Penn State Football: Top-25 players of the James Franklin Era

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Amani Oruwariye #21 of the Penn State Nittany Lions (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Penn State Football: Top-25 players of the James Franklin Era

. Cornerback. Nittany Lions . Amani Oruwariye. 19. player. 806

During his time as head coach at Penn State, James Franklin has had some playmaking cornerbacks, but Amani Oruwariye was downright special.

After playing mostly special teams as a redshirt freshman in 2016, Oruwariye started to make his presence felt in this Penn State secondary in 2017, hauling in a career-high four interceptions while being named second-team All-Big Ten.

Oruwariye kept that positive momentum going in the following season, setting career highs in tackles, passes defended, and forced fumbles. He also actually started a game for the Nittany Lions for the first time, starting all 12 in fact, proving himself to be an excellent cover cornerback and quite the ballhawk.

In his final season, Oruwariye added another three interceptions to his total and was named the team’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year alongside defensive lineman Shareef Miller. He declared early for the 2018 NFL Draft and was selected in the fifth round by the Detroit Lions, hauling in his first NFL interception this past season against the Carolina Panthers.

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