Amani Oruwariye Drafted No. 146 Overall By Detroit Lions
Penn State football cornerback Amani Oruwariye received his official welcome to the NFL when the Detroit Lions selected him in the fifth round of this year’s draft.
Oruwariye had a stellar 2018 season that propelled him up many NFL scouts’ and experts’ draft boards. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from the conference’s coaches and media in his only year as a full-time starter at cornerback.
While starting alongside John Reid, Oruwariye intercepted three passes, including a game-clinching pick in overtime against Appalachian State, and broke up 12 others while making 40 tackles in 2018. He used his good size (6’1″, 203 pounds) and ball skills to lock down opposing receivers throughout his college career.
Oruwariye was a key reserve before becoming a full-time starter. He intercepted four passes and made a total of 19 stops while Grant Haley and Christian Campbell occupied the starting corner positions in 2017. On top of his first-team All-Big Ten honors, Oruwariye also won a Big Ten championship and Fiesta Bowl in 2016 and 2017 during his Penn State career.
Perhaps the greatest honor of Oruwariye’s Penn State career was leading the team out of the tunnel on Military Appreciation Day last season. His mother, Karen, served in the United States’ Navy for 15 years, and he ran out holding his mother’s American flag.
Oruwariye will play alongside Darius “Big Play” Slay in Detroit, who led the NFL in pass breakups and interceptions in 2018. The Lions had the eighth-best pass defense in the league last season, and Oruwariye will add depth to the team’s group of cornerbacks.
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