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Washington Commanders get it right with Emmanuel Forbes in 2023 NFL Draft

By Hunter Noll

STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - OCTOBER 08: Emmanuel Forbes #13 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Davis Wade Stadium on October 08, 2022 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI - OCTOBER 08: Emmanuel Forbes #13 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs reacts during the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Davis Wade Stadium on October 08, 2022 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images) /
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The Washington Commanders made the right move by selecting Emmanuel Forbes in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft

The Washington Commanders had the 16th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They used that pick to select cornerback Emmanuel Forbes out of Mississippi State.

Let’s get right down to it, they absolutely nailed it. Washington needed to take a defensive back. Going into the draft, it was their most glaring issue. This is something I recently talked about, too. The Commanders had to stop trying to solve their defensive back issue in free agency and start focusing on the draft to make a long-term impact.

There were a few names you could have seen here. Devon Witherspoon was the first cornerback off the board at five (going to the Seattle Seahawks). Surprisingly, no other defensive back was taken until Washington.

That left Forbes, along with Christian Gonzalez (Oregon), Joey Porter Jr. (Penn State), and Deonte Banks (Maryland) as potential options. Honestly, the Commanders couldn’t go wrong with any of them. They went with the Mississippi State product, and he immediately took to Twitter to express his excitement.

Forbes is extremely athletic. Listed as 6’1″, 166 pounds, he’s got good height but is razor-thin. The speed is exciting, you don’t have to worry about him lining up across from too many people that will straight up beat him in a foot race. Meanwhile, he plays the ball very well. Forbes will stay with his assignment, reads the ball well, and uses his long arms to keep it out of the receiver’s hands.

The Commanders’ cornerback group isn’t the most exciting. Kendall Fuller is solid, but coming off an “eh” year. Benjamin St-Juste might be their best overall cornerback. He’s good and could get better, but if you have him as your potential top guy you better have some depth. After those two it got ugly. Danny Johnson‘s shown some nice stuff in the past, and Christian Holmes was a seventh-rounder last year who could contribute a bit.

Emmanuel Forbes joins the roster and could immediately be their top cornerback. He’s only 22 but should make an impact on day one. This isn’t just a “he’ll contribute right away” type of guy though. Forbes will help immediately but has elite potential. Great from all optics.

It’s really hard to not agree with a move like that.

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