Amani Oruwariye Takes 'Pride' in Leading Lions' Cornerbacks
Amani Oruwariye enters the 2022 season as the Detroit Lions' No. 1 cornerback.
The 26-year-old is coming off a career best season in which he recorded career-high marks in passes defensed (11) and interceptions (six).
In three professional seasons and 39 total games (31 starts), the Penn State product has amassed 129 combined tackles, 21 passes defensed and nine picks.
Along with the aforementioned stats, Oruwariye has the experience to back up his status as the leader of Detroit's cornerbacks room. In fact, at 26, he's set to be the team's oldest player at the position this upcoming season.
It means he's tasked with spearheading a cornerbacks group that is also comprised of the likes of Jeff Okudah, A.J. Parker, Jerry Jacobs and Mike Hughes, all of whom are younger and less proven than Oruwariye.
"Just from an experience standpoint -- age-wise -- there are a lot of guys around my age, guys who have been here with me," Oruwariye told reporters Friday, from the site of Lions training camp at Allen Park. “But, just from experience, I’ve played a lot, been in different systems with different coaches, played a majority of these teams. So, I do feel a sense of responsibility, a lot of responsibility, to make sure the guys are ready to go. Make sure everyone is just prepared and working like a professional every single day.
“I take pride in it. It just means that I come to work every day, be the best teammate I can every day and try to be the best Amani I can every day, too, for my teammates. That’s really it.”
As for his leadership style, he described himself as "a leader by example" to reporters Friday.
"I'm not really a rah-rah guy, but those guys (his CB counterparts) know what I put out there is consistent," Oruwariye commented. "They can come to me and ask about everything, and I'm going to be that guy for them. I'm going to hold them to that standard, to make sure they're putting out their best effort every single practice."
Junfu Han, USA TODAY NETWORK
As part of his impressive 2021 campaign, Oruwariye permitted a passer rating against of just 60.2.
His high-level performance last year definitely put the 2019 fifth-round pick of the Lions (No. 146 overall) on the map, and among all corners across the league.
Fellow cornerbacks Trevon Diggs (11) and J.C. Jackson (eight), in fact, were the only players with more interceptions a season ago.
"It (last year) was amazing. I was living the dream, just making the plays that I could make for the defense,” Oruwariye expressed. “Obviously, we didn’t get the wins we wanted to have. But, I’m hoping that I can continue to have that production and rally the guys around me to continue building off that, and then, we’ll start getting those W's in the win column.”
While there's no denying the fact that Oruwariye is coming off a highly productive campaign, Detroit head coach Dan Campbell told reporters this week that the fourth-year pro will need to prove himself all over again in 2022.
"He’s got to prove it again," Campbell said. "He knows that and continues to improve, but we feel pretty good about where he’s at over there in that spot. So, it was good to see him grow and develop at the rate that he did. He was having a hell of a year before the injury, and I would say he picked up right where he left off in spring and even the first two days (of training camp).”
