Washington goes defensive back in Round 1

April 27, 2023

by Steve Thomas

The Washington Redskins Washington Football Team Washington Commanders Washington drafted Mississippi St. corner Emmanuel Forbes with the sixteenth pick in round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Forbes, 6’1” and 166 pounds, is a true junior who played 35 games in three seasons with the Bulldogs, and made a total of 150 tackles, including 94 solo and 6.5 for loss, 14 interceptions, including 6 for touchdowns, and was credited with 20 passes defended.  In 2022, he played in 12 games, and made 46 total tackles, including 26 solo and 1 for loss, and had 6 interceptions, including 3 for touchdowns, and 10 passes defended, and was selected as a Consensus All-American.  At the NFL Combine, he ran the 40 yard dash in 4.35 seconds, and jumped 37.5 inches in the vertical leap and 10’11” in the standing broad jump.

Forbes was valued anywhere from the bottom half of round one to as low as the third round by some.  Most analysts rated him as a second round value.  As his career stats demonstrate, Forbes is an obvious playmaker with outstanding ball skills.  Scouts view Forbes as a starting outside corner in the NFL. His strengths are that he plays with very good instincts, physicality, and aggressiveness.  He’s a game-changer who set the FBS career record for most career interceptions returned for touchdowns.  However, that same aggressiveness is also looked at as a bit of a negative at times, as Forbes was seen as being vulnerable to double moves.  Many scouts look at Forbes as being better in man coverage than in zone coverage; however, with Washington being more of a zone team, some adjustments may need to be made.  His principal weakness is his rail-thin frame, which could be a problem against bigger, stronger NFL receivers.

Post-draft graders will likely view this as a questionable selection, as several other higher-rated corners were available to Washington at 16, including Christian Gonzales, who went to the Patriots with the next pick.  Washington also passed on other positions of need, such as tight end.  Frankly, it seems like a bit of a strange choice, but it’s very much in the Ron Rivera tradition of draft selections, as he was a bit of an “out of left field” selection.  Clearly, the team had Forbes rated higher than the other corners, and they have studied all of the film.  The team most likely views his ball skills as being an X factor in the defensive backfield.  The logical situation for Forbes this year is that he starts from day one alongside Benjamin St-Juste, with Kendall Fuller moving either to the slot or off the roster entirely.

It was a bit unfortunate that all four of the first round-graded offensive lineman went before pick 16, as that was the position Washington needed most.  In addition, the team notably passed on Kentucky quarterback Will Levis in favor of Forbes.

None of the draft grades and analysis matter, though – the only thing that’s important is whether the player succeeds.  If he does, then this was a good pick for Washington.  If it doesn’t succeed, then it wasn’t.  It’s that simple.