Prince Amukamara has lofty goals for upcoming season

If there's one young player that still needs to make a consistent impact for the New York Giants it's third-year cornerback Prince Amukamara.

Amukamara was drafted in the first round by the Giants in the 2011 NFL Draft. He missed the majority of his rookie season with a fracture in his left foot and battled leg injuries while playing 13 games last season.

He has shown that he can play, but the Giants want more. They want him to become a star. Amukamara is talking like a player who wants the same thing.

"I really want to be the number one corner on this team and I feel like right now Corey is and my goal is to always just try to beat him out and I think as soon as I establish myself as the number one corner, then hopefully just become the number one corner in the whole league," Amukamara said. "I know that's going to take work, but guys that came out of my draft class are doing great: Patrick Peterson and Richard Sherman, and those are the guys I kind of compare myself to and I'm just trying to exceed all of them."

Terrell Thomas, trying to come back from a third torn ACL, said that Amukamara needs to understand the Giants need him to be a playmaker. Amukamara has only two interceptions in two seasons.

"With Prince, he's just happy doing his job and we're trying to get him to where we need more," Thomas said. "You had a good game, nobody caught the ball on you, but you had no pass break ups, no interceptions. That's the next step that he has to start making as a first-rounder, a top-10 pick that he said he was all these things that showcase him. I think if he stays healthy this year, has a full year starting, he can be very productive for us."

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said Amukamara has made "A lot of improvement because he hasn’t been here and he’s practiced every day and his skill set is much improved. I see a nice confidence in him right now."

At the end of the day, the Giants know that Amukamara has the stuff to be a stud cornerback.

"I think he's still a little we behind the ears as far as his mentality, how he attacks his daily job," said Thomas. "Me and Corey (Webster) have been working on him with that letting him know that just doing your job is not enough anymore. I think he'll get it. It takes some people longer than others, but I think he had a solid spring for us."

You can follow Kelsey O'Donnell on Twitter @KelsODonnell