This is the year that Baalke won't care about compensatory picks.

Amukamara is 26, Smith is 28. Those two years can be an eternity when you're trying to build a 5 year core.

Also read up on Amukamara and what happened to him this season; details matter, PFF isn't gospel.

Prince Amukamara

Amukamara was on his way to having a Pro Bowl-caliber year in a breakout fourth season with the Giants. Up until tearing his biceps against the Indianapolis Colts in November, Amukamara was the team's best cornerback and helped keep a flagging secondary afloat as guys like Walter Thurmond and Trumaine McBride were lost for the season.

Amukamara finished with 45 tackles and three interceptions in eight games, numbers that actually bested his fellow cornerback Rodgers-Cromartie, who played a full season. Most importantly, Amukamara did not give up a single touchdown in pass coverage and quarterbacks had only a 58.2 rating when throwing in his direction. As a bonus, he was also one of the top cornerbacks in the league at defending the run, making up for Rodgers-Cromartie's shortcomings in that area.

At only 26, Amukamara has finally started to live up to his first round draft status and has established himself as one of the few building blocks the Giants can count on defensively. Amukamara's injury is pretty run-of-the-mill by NFL standards and there is no reason to think he won't be back to full strength by the time training camp rolls around.

Grade: A-

Pros: Amukamara is a very disciplined cornerback, a heady player who might not be the best athlete or have the best ball skills, but makes up for it with sound technique and his knowledge of the tendencies of the opposing receivers he's covering. Perhaps his best attribute as a cornerback is his tackling ability. When Amukamara gets his hands on you, chances are you're not going anywhere.

Key Stat: 4.0 run stop percentage (2nd among cornerbacks), zero missed tackles (tied for first), tops in tackling efficiency at his position.

Obviously, a cornerback's primary job is to lock down receivers, but Amukamara's versatility in run defense should not go unnoticed by the Giants' next defensive coordinator.

Cons: The only real downside to Amukamara's season was the fact that he couldn't stay on the field for 16 games for the third time in four seasons. Staying healthy is partially luck and partially a skill, and it is critical that Amukamara does whatever he can conditioning-wise in the offseason to ensure that he plays a full slate in 2015. He also let a couple of interception opportunities slip through his hands, which would have given him even sexier superficial numbers.

Key Stat: Five passes deflected, three interceptions.

Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at over half of a season, but improved playmaking would vault Amukamara into the discussion of top cornerbacks in the league.

/r/49ers Thread Parent