4 Things Amani Oruwariye Must Do To Become Shutdown Cornerback

Read more on the four things Detroit Lions cornerback Amani Oruwariye must do to become a shutdown NFL corner.

After being around the game for the past 40 years, I have seen a lot of great cornerbacks come and go.

I have seen the likes of Darrell Green, Everson Walls, Carl Lee, Frank Minnifield, Aeneas Williams, Deion Sanders, Chris McCallister, Aaron Glenn and Champ Bailey play. 

These individuals, among others, have had the reputation of being shutdown cornerbacks. A shutdown corner has a reputation of being able to take away half the field.

I have also studied Amani Oruwariye at length, and I have seen him grow and become better.

However, for him to be considered a true shutdown corner, there are four things he must do - - which includes modeling his game after who I consider the best to ever do it. 

1.) Find the football better in coverage

The thing that makes the best corners great is that they are able to find the football better than the wide receivers they line up against.

This is one of the greatest strides Oruwariye made in 2021. It was a remarkable improvement. He did that by learning how to better read the quarterbacks while in coverage. 

This improvement is evidenced by his six interceptions in 2021, which is double his interception total from his first two seasons combined (three). 

This is further evident by the fact that Oruwariye had 11 passes defended in 2021, as compared to 10 passes defensed in his first two seasons combined.

2.) Oruwariye needs to use his hands more while in man coverage

Prior to 2021, Oruwariye was much better in zone coverage than man. He would get spun around, and he had a tendency to lose receivers in man coverage because he played the receivers too tightly.

In 2021, Oruwariye got better at giving receivers more of a cushion, by playing off-man. This caused the game to slow down for him. Keeping the game in front of him instead of behind him helped him remain more in control. 

When the play call brought him up tighter pre-snap, he did a better job opening up his hips and flowing with the movements of the receivers and staying in phase. He needs to use his hands even more (without drawing a penalty for pass interference) to feel the receivers as they move. 

Playing man is like a choreographed couples’ figure skating routine in the Olympics. The tandem has to move in sync. 

It is no different in man coverage. The better Oruwariye is able to shadow and move with receivers, the tighter the throwing windows will become and the harder it will become to throw against him.

If Oruwariye is going to be considered a shutdown corner, he needs to get even better in man, because that is the benchmark of a shutdown corner. Nobody earns that reputation while playing zone.

Kirthmon F. Dozier, USA TODAY NETWORK

3.) Oruwariye needs to be more aggressive

With improved statistics comes confidence, and with confidence comes an increased aggression level. That needs to show this next season. It needs to show in his posture and how he plays receivers and the football. 

He now needs to move into thinking less and acting on his instincts more. Oruwariye has seen enough of the pro game to have a good idea of what is going to happen. There are only so many routes that receivers can run. 

Now, he needs to act even more on his instincts and take more instinctual risks. All the greats do this. 

4.) Play more like he is the wide receiver

Champ Bailey was the best corner I have ever seen. Why? 

He often looked more like the intended receiver on a play than the actual wide receiver did. This came from Bailey playing both ways at the University of Georgia, and that is where Bailey learned such incredible ball skills. He caught 59 passes for 978 yards during his time in college.

This is the mentality Oruwariye needs to develop.

Someone who shows the ability to anticipate well and does this in today’s game is the Dolphins’ Xavien Howard. There have been many times his break on the ball has been just as good (or better) as the receiver's break.

If Oruwariye does these four things, he has a real chance of becoming a shutdown corner in the National Football League.