Washington Position Group Breakdown 2024: Cornerbacks

June 18, 2024

By Noonefromtampa

Overview

In 2023, with a pass rush lacking, this group underperformed, and first round draft pick Emmanuel Forbes looked lost the first part of the season. The new coaching staff will have their work cut out for them, but the expectation is if the staff can maximize a player’s potential, like they did for the Cowboys, this group should be much improved in 2024.

Returning Players

Benjamin St-Juste – 26 years old, 6’3”, 200 pounds – The fourth year veteran with 31 career starts has one career interception, 27 passes defensed and 3 sacks, along with 135 tackles. The former third round pick is entering his contract year and will need a good season to solidify a decent contract offer for 2025 for this team or another.

Emmanuel Forbes Jr. – 23 years old, 6’0”, 180 pounds – The second year veteran and former 2023 first round pick started six games last season, playing in 14 games overall. He had 11 passes defended and 38 tackles.

Christian Holmes – 26 years old, 6’1”, 205 pounds – The three year veteran was drafted in 2022 in the seventh round. He has played in 30 games, mainly on special teams.

Ku Blu Kelly – 22 years old, 6’0”, 193 pounds – The first year veteran was drafted by the Ravens in the fifth round of the 2023 draft and then bounced on waivers from them to the Seahawks and the Packers, then the Commanders in December 2023.

Nick Whiteside II – 24 years old, 6’1”, 200 pounds – The 2023 undrafted free agent veteran played in two games last season. He spent most of the season on the practice squad and was elevated to the active roster at the end of last season.

Tariq Castro-Fields – 25 years old, 6’1”, 197 pounds – Aformer sixth round draft pick of the 49ers in the 2022 draft and is a three year veteran. He has played in only 10 games, primarily on special teams.

New Players

Michael Davis – 29 years old, 6’2”, 196 pounds – The 2017 undrafted free agent spent 7 seasons with the Chargers before signing with the Commanders this offseason to a one-year deal. He has played in 107 games and started 74. Davis has 8 career interceptions, 69 passes defensed and 349 tackles.

Noah Igbinoghene – 24 years old, 5’11”, 197 pounds – A former first round pick of the Dolphins in 2020. He has struggled at times in his career and the Dolphins traded him to the Cowboys last season, the current staff is familiar.

James Pierre – 27 years old, 6’2”, 196 pounds – is a 2020 undrafted free agent for spent the last 4 years with the Steelers. He played in 66 games and started six. In his first 3 years, he split snap between defense and special teams, but in 2023 he primarily played on special teams.

Mike Sainristil – 23 years old, 510”, 182 pounds – is a 2024 second round pick (50^th overall) from Michigan. He had a stellar 2023 season with six interceptions. He started on offense and switched to defense for his last two years. In his two seasons as a starter on defense he had 70 tackles, 13 passes defended and seven interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns.

A.J. Woods – 23 years old, 5’9”, 186 pounds – is a 2024 undrafted free agent from Pittsburgh, was a multi-year starter at Pitt. He had 25 passes defended and 4 interceptions during his career.

Chigozie Anusiem – 24 years old, 6’1”, 200 pounds – is a 2024 undrafted free agent from Colorado State. Anusiem spent four years at California and two years at Colorado State where he was a starter. Overall, he had 84 tackles, 18 passes defended and one interception in his college career.

Roles

This position group will likely have five to six players on the 53-man roster and another couple of players on the practice squad. The question that needs to be worked out in training camp is who the starters are and who are the backups. There are also a number of players brought in by the former regime who will have to prove to the new staff they belong here.

Starters

The starting cornerbacks will likely come from the group of Davis, St-Juste and Forbes. These players have the most experience and skills of the group. Two will start and one will be the primary backup. Sainristil will probably make it into this group as the slot corner. He has the quickness for the position and coaches view him as a very disruptive player there.

The wild card here is Igbinoghene, the former first round pick. Can he return to the form that got him drafted in the first round or will he be camp fodder who is released in August? The latter is far more likely to happen than the former.

Backups

Having played a lot of special teams, Pierre and Holmes have a leg up on other players in this group. The team has several players with similar physical characteristics, including Kelly, Castro-Fields, Whiteside and Anusiem. They will need to show the coaching staff they can play better than Pierre and Holmes on the defense and special teams to make the team. Woods, I think, is destined for the practice squad if he shows potential during camp.

The cornerback position will be one to watch in training camp to see which players are rising or falling.

Sources: Commanders.com, pro-football-reference.com