First Round Pick Named Commanders' Worst Decision Since 2020

Nothing like being blamed for where the Washington Commanders drafted you to add some sting to your release.

Aug 10, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Washington Commanders cornerback Emmanuel Forbes (13) celebrates after breaking up a pass to New York Jets wide receiver Mike Williams (18) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images / Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

Every NFL franchise makes mistakes and the Washington Commanders are no exemption to that rule.

Even under the new regime of managing partner Josh Harris there are moves you could label as misteps, though there are many more success stories thus far that most of us watching the Commanders franchise closely these days don't bother with trying to pick at those minimal blemishes.

So its no surprise then that when ESPN set out to identify the worst mistake every NFL franchise has made since 2020 that the one they picked for Washington wasn't a Harris decision, though it came during his watch.

Aug 10, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Washington Commanders cornerback Emmanuel Forbes (13) celebrates after breaking up a pass to New York Jets wide receiver Mike Williams (18) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images / Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

"First-round picks aren't locks to succeed. About 40% of Round 1 selections taken since the league moved to the slotted draft format in 2011 have either been cut before the end of their original deals or failed to earn a fifth-year option, which is far closer to a coin flip than some might expect. The upside of landing a potential difference-maker on a bargain deal for five years is what makes those picks valuable," says Bill Barnwell of ESPN when selecting cornerback Emmanuel Forbes as the Commanders' biggest mistake over the last five seasons.

"Not many first-round picks are cut midway through their second season in the league, though. ...Forbes is one of those exceptions, as the Commanders turned over their coaching staff and front office between the Ron Rivera regime in 2023 and the Adam Peters/Dan Quinn-led group in 2024. Forbes was benched as a rookie amid inconsistent play. The new regime gave him 32 snaps as a starter in the Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers, but after committing a pass interference penalty in the third quarter, he was benched again and never started another game for Washington.

"After 72 more defensive snaps over the next three months, the Commanders cut Forbes in early December."

Looking back to the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft it was considered a longshot that Oregon Ducks cornerback Christian Gonzalez would be avaiable when the cornerback-needy franchise came on the clock.

So when he was, there wasn't a soul in the media work room who didn't immediately believe Gonzalez would be the pick.

Whether it was out of a misguided need to be different for the sake of being different or if head coach and primary decision-maker Ron Rivera really believed Forbes to be the better fit for his team than Gonzalez, one has gone on to have a stellar start to his career and the other is on his second team in just his second season.

There are no guarantees that Gonzalez would have thrived in Washington, and perhaps Forbes would have been much better off with the New England Patriots one pick later - after all, many NFL teams had a first round grade on him.

Whatever the other path would have produced we'll never know, but what we do know is if that's the worst mistake the franchise has made since 2020 it looks pretty clear with Marshon Lattimore and Mike Sainristil it has very quickly remedied it.

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