Breaking down Emmanuel Forbes performance against the Patriots
Taking a closer look at both the positives and negatives from the Commanders rookie CB vs New England.
Rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes has had a rough start to his NFL career. The Commanders first-round pick struggled mightily with double moves and tackling against the Eagles and Bears back in weeks four and five and was consequently benched for the next two games, playing just five snaps in each game.
This week however, Forbes found himself back in the lineup, playing 48 snaps on defense, which equates to about 75% of the total snaps. The Patriots provided an easier matchup for Forbes and indeed the entire Commanders defense, which probably played a part in Forbes getting more playing time, but with that playing time Forbes showed that the talent is indeed there if he can clean up some mistakes.
Because the Patriots presented an easier matchup on paper, the Commanders played a lot of man coverage, which isn’t really what Forbes was drafted for. They drafted Forbes as a cornerback that excelled playing off and with vision in zone and match coverage schemes. However, even with that in mind, Forbes battled all game in man coverage and showed he is capable of playing man coverage too.
On this play, the Patriots align in a three by one formation with three receivers to the right and one receiver isolated to the left. Forbes has primarily been used as a boundary corner by the Commanders, meaning he plays on the shorter side of the field so there is less space for him to have to cover. However, the downside of that is that offenses will typically align their three receivers to the field side, where there is more space for three receivers to operate, leaving their number one receiver isolated on the other side.
This means that as the boundary corner, Forbes often had to matchup against the Patriots top receiver in one-on-one coverage. As we’ve already established, that’s not necessarily his game, but even so, Forbes held up well against the Patriots. You can see on this play he’s isolated against Patriots receiver Jalen Reagor, who looks to break inside quickly on a slant. Forbes’ technique isn’t great here. Rather than staying square to the receiver, he allows his hip to open to the sideline on the receiver's initial step. That allows the receiver the chance to cut across his face and get inside while Forbes has to sort his feet out.
Forbes does remarkably well to flip his hips back inside quickly enough to stay on top of the route. That hip fluidity and foot quickness is part of why he was such a promising draft prospect and it allows him to make up for bad technique. By being able to adjust so quickly, Forbes stays with the receiver as he breaks inside. The receiver is able to use his frame to box out Forbes as the ball arrives, but Forbes has the length to reach in with his arm and knock the ball away at the catch point.
From that play, you can see both the potential and the issues in Forbes’ game right now. The initial technique got him in a bad spot, but his fluidity gave him the ability to recover. Then his smaller frame being boxed out is an issue, especially as Reagor isn’t a particularly big receiver, but Forbes does have the length to help him overcome that and still reach his hand into the catch point. Better receivers will make him pay for his technique, but if he can correct that technique then his athletic ability will make him very tough to beat.
Later in the game, we saw a slightly better rep from Forbes in a similar situation.
This time Forbes matches up against Tyquan Thornton, a much taller receiver than Reagor but also a skinnier frame, which matches up with Forbes better from a defensive standpoint. Thornton runs an in-breaking route like Reagor did, but deeper down the field rather than an instant slant. At the snap, we see Forbes being a lot more patient with his technique. Instead of instantly reacting to the first step of the receiver and allowing his body to open up, he stays square and waits for the receiver to declare his intentions. The receiver then releases inside so Forbes gets his hands on him and then opens his hips to turn and run with the receiver.
Forbes positions himself on the receivers outside hip, knowing he has safety help inside. As the receiver breaks inside towards the middle of the field, Forbes stays tight and uses that opportunity to look back at the quarterback to locate the football. He sees the ball being thrown and undercuts the route, using his positioning to go under the receiver and reach into the catch point to break up the pass.
When Forbes positions himself correctly, we know from his time in college that he’s fantastic at locating the ball and making a play on it, even if it is only getting his hand in at the catch point to break it up like we saw there. Ensuring he gets his technique right so that he can get in those correct positions more often is what will be key to Forbes developing the way the Commanders want him to going forward, because when he’s in the right position, he’s a threat.
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