Amba Etta-Tawo chose to join New York Giants because of Pat Shurmur

Former Syracuse football star Amba Etta-Tawo chose to play for the New York Giants because of new head coach Pat Shurmur.

I spoke with former Syracuse football star Amba Etta-Tawo this past week and he revealed to me that he had multiple offers from NFL teams this past offseason. But he chose to join the New York Giants because of their new head coach Pat Shurmur and their offensive schemes.

"“The offense coming in was the main reason. I knew this offense was good, I watched the tape from last season with the Minnesota Vikings with Pat Shurmur at the helm. The explosive plays, the speed, I just felt like I was a perfect fit in this offense.”"

So what exactly did Etta-Tawo see on tape in 2017 from the Vikings?

• Vikings were 11th in total offensive yards
• Vikings were also 11th in average passing yards per game
• The purple people eaters were in the top-10 in overall points produced

Etta-Tawo said that what he saw on tape last season to what he has been practicing the last several months has lived up to the hype and some. Heck there were wrinkles in the offense he didn’t even know was there.

The thing that Etta-Tawo is most looking forward to is the versatility in this offense, he likes having the ability to be able to do so many different things in this offense. It even reminds him a little of ‘Orange is the New Fast’, he was asked about the differences in the playbooks:

"“I’ve been playing football for a long time man. The route combinations are pretty much the same. It’s really all about learning the terminology and the exact schematics. It has certainly been a challenge, but I’ve been studying my butt off and I’ve done everything I can control to improve my game.”"

That’s a ton of credit getting thrown Dino Babers way that he has made the transition as smooth as possible from his high-octane style to the pro game for his former players. One thing that is more so an optic change then a physical one, is the amount of NFL scouts that come to Syracuse every year for the Pro Day.

Literally according to the numbers, there’s basically the same amount of scouts as normal, but it just seems like because of the video game numbers that are produced in this offense, that NFL teams seem to be paying extra attention. But there’s living proof in Etta-Tawo, that it’s more than just hype, it’s reality, the Babers system isn’t a hoax. ‘The Babers effect is real’, that should help recruiting in the future.

His final message to Orange Nation was a shout out to head coach Dino Babers and he thanked him for everything he did for his career and said that’ll he fill his end of the bargain by continuing to make plays in the pros.