Player: Emmanuel Forbes
School: Mississippi State
Measurables:
- Height: 6’1” (NFL Combine)
- Weight: 166 (NFL Combine)
- 40: 4.35 (NFL Combine)
- 10 Yard Split: 1.48 (NFL Combine)
- Bench: DNP
- Vertical Jump: 37.5” (NFL Combine)
- Broad Jump: 10’11” (NFL Combine)
- 3 Cone: DNP
- 20 Yard Shuttle: DNP
- Other Notes: Forbes tested well at the combine, the number most people worry about is his weight at 166. Obviously, you would like to see Forbes put some muscle weight on, but the most concerning thing for me at the Combine was the way Forbes was moving in the positional drills. He looked awkward in his movements, kind of like a baby deer.
Graded Position Specific Traits:
- Man Coverage: 8.25/10
- Zone Coverage: 7/10
- Field Vision: 6.5/10
- Tackling: 4/10
- Run Support: 5/10
- Range: 6.5/10
Prospect Grade: 37.25/60; 62.1%- Good starter whose potential is unknown due to skillset
Projected Draft Day: Round 2
Player Comparison: Kaiir Elam
Player Summary:
Forbes is arguably a Top 3 coverage corner. Although Mississippi State played a good chunk of zone, I would say I was more impressed with his man coverage. Let me tell you, weighing 166 lbs doesn’t stop Forbes from doing anything. He gets overpowered probably 95% of the time, but he is not afraid to attack you from press alignment. Where a lot of corners try to jab you with one arm, Forbes will literally stand at the line and press you both hands. Unfortunately, his press doesn’t really have much of an impact on the receiver, but he does not care. He is arguably the most aggressive CB from press in my opinion, and if he weighed 180/190 with a bit more strength behind his jam I have a feeling we’d be talking about Forbes at the same level as Witherspoon and Gonzalez. Forbes is lucky he’s fast because with the time he uses to press he can fall a step behind at times. His ability to recover is strong. Forbes also does a really good job at disguising coverages.
I feel like one of Forbes biggest strengths I’ve heard about was his ball skills and ball hawking ability. Yes, Forbes had 6 INTs this year; however half of them were off tipped balls or bad throws. Look, a turnover is a turnover, it’s a momentum shifter; however when you are talking about a prospect as a ball hawk I think of players who can make a play on the ball even on good throws. A couple of Forbes’ INTs from this year were him making a good play. I think Forbes absolutely has the footwork, twitchyness, and overall skillset to be a ballhawk, but as of right now I would call Forbes more of a lockdown than a ballhawk.
The only part of Forbes’ game that is dragging his prospect grade down is his run support/tackling. Forbes “desire”(for lack of a better term), to run down and put himself in a position to make a tackle on a run play is pretty inconsistent, thus leading to his average grade, but when he does run it down the chances of him doing anything are pretty low. His tackling was extremely difficult to watch. When Forbes tried to tackle high he’d either get shook off or would need help to actually bring the ball carrier down. When Forbes hit low at the legs his tackling actually looked better, but still not great. My concern is that he launches himself like a missile at ball carriers and there are times he doesn’t get anywhere near the ball carrier. Like yes he tried, but it was a pretty poor attempt. I was absolutely shocked that teams did not try to run the ball at him more. If I’m a team looking to draft Forbes I would be extremely worried that the opponent’s game plan is going to be to try to run it right at Forbes. I can’t imagine what Forbes would do against Chubb or Henry.
Look, I think Forbes can start for a team day one as a coverage corner and do well. Unfortunately, for the most part you need to be more than a coverage corner to be a starter in the NFL. I think Forbes is going to be a liability against the run, and a corner like that who can’t do it all is not worth the risk of a 1st round pick.