3 unsung heroes from Commanders Week 1 win over Jaguars

2. Darrick Forrest

Do the Commanders have a potential stud on their hands in Forrest? If you’ve been following along through OTAs, training camp and preseason, you weren’t totally taken aback by Forrest’s performance against the Jaguars. Forrest made his presence felt the entire offseason and Sunday was just a culmination of that.

But was anyone expecting Forrest, who played less than 30 defensive snaps as a rookie last season, to be the Commanders’ most important defensive player Sunday? We noted beforehand that Forrest needed to step up with Kam Curl (thumb) sidelined, and he did more than fans could’ve imagined.

Given the most substantial playing time of his young career, the Cincinnati product compiled two pass deflections in the end zone, a forced fumble on a thumping hit of Travis Etienne that unfortunately bounced out of bounds and the game-sealing interception in the final minute.

For good measure, Forrest also finished with the second-most tackles on the defense. It was a breakout performance from the second-year defender and most fans would agree the Commanders don’t win this game without him.