Commanders News: Sam Howell, Carson Wentz, Chase Young and Emmanuel Forbes

Commanders CB Emmanuel Forbes gains more plaudits

Watching first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes going head-to-head with some outstanding pass-catchers at the Washington Commanders' disposal throughout offseason workouts has done nothing to suggest he wasn't the right call at No. 16 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. The former Mississippi State stud is certainly looking the part, although we are still early in the process and the pads have yet to come on.

Forbes is getting all he can handle going up against the foursome of Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Jahan Dotson, and Dyami Brown. There's been the odd hiccup along the way, but it's not hard to see why the Commanders were so high on his potential looking at the overall output to date.

When discussing Forbes' integration into the rotation, head coach Ron Rivera stated via Tim Kelly of Sports Illustrated that he's been extremely pleased by what he's seen so far. Especially considering the standard of wideouts in Washington.

"He is a ball hawk. He does time it out very well, does put himself in position. He's working against some of the best route runners right now in the league, and that's kind of neat to watch this young man grow already. So it's been a very good offseason with him so far. I believe it's only two and a half weeks that we've had him, but it's been good to watch."

- Ron Rivera via Sports Illustrated

Things couldn't have gone much better for Forbes initially. It will get tougher as the summer progresses, but his high character and elite athleticism should ensure the positive trend upward continues.