Commanders Rookie Emmanuel Forbes 'Elite Cover Player,' Says Analyst

Emmanuel Forbes looks to translate his play from Mississippi State to the NFL with the Washington Commanders.

The Washington Commanders may have turned a head or two when they selected Emmanuel Forbes with the No. 16 overall pick in last week's draft.

With Christian Gonzalez still on the board, many expected the Commanders to stop the fall, but they kept it going by taking Forbes. However, he still fills a major need on the defense for Washington.

"He has good length, but he is lean at 170 pounds," CBS Sports writes. "Even so, he will throw his body around. But you draft him because he's an elite cover player who fills an immediate need. He is going to upgrade an already good defense."

Commanders head coach Ron Rivera believes that the style Forbes was playing in his secondary at Mississippi State is very similar to what Washington wants to do with its group.

“A lot of stuff that they do, that they did is very similar to us because they played man, they played zone," Rivera said. "A good portion of his takeaways came from zone as well, so he's more than capable. They play a lot of the techniques and styles we did. It's just a matter of understanding the terminology more than anything else, so we think it should translate. We feel pretty good about the translation. I know the defensive staff feels very good about his ability.”

Forbes' biggest red flag is his weight, and it's possibly a reason why he wasn't taken sooner, but if he can gain a little bit of muscle or prove that he can still be an elite cover player at his size, Washington may have its top cornerback of the future.

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