Emmanuel Forbes had to know the question was going to come.
Sure enough, shortly after Forbes, a former Mississippi State cornerback, was selected 16th overall in Thursday’s first round of the NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders, he was asked about his size.
“I am not going to stress about it,” Forbes told reporters via Zoom following the selection. “They (Washington) didn’t have a problem with it and that is why they drafted me. I am just going to enjoy it, keep on being myself and try to gain weight, but be comfortable.
Forbes’ frame, measured at 6-foot-1, 166 pounds at the NFL combine, may have turned some teams toward other prospects. But according to Commanders General Manager Martin Mayhew and head coach Ron Rivera, Forbes was exactly what they were looking for.
“He played in the SEC and did what he did. Is there a concern (about his weight)? No,” Rivera said during a press conference Thursday night the team published on Twitter. “I don’t have a concern from watching his tape and watching who he played against.”
What the Commanders saw on tape was one of college football’s all-time best turnover creators, who tallied 14 career interceptions, turning six into touchdowns.
Mayhew, who’s been the team’s general manager since 2021, said Forbes had been on his radar from the beginning of the team’s draft evaluations. When it got closer to the draft’s 16th pick, Forbes was the consensus pick in the war room among the prospects the Commanders were considering.
“He has a really good feel for routes and route combinations,” Mayhew said. “He has good awareness in coverage and knowing where everybody is. He can track the ball really well down the field and that is a difficult thing to do…He is the total package, he really is. He can do everything that a corner should be able to do.”
Rivera, the team’s head coach since 2020, added there are a lot of similarities between what Forbes did schematically in Starkville, having to play both man and zone coverage, to what he will be asked to do as a rookie next fall.
On the flip side, Forbes said he believes he fit the type of defensive players Washington has brought in under its current staff, like former MSU players Montez Sweat and Cameron Dantzler, who will now be Forbes’ future teammates.
“They play real hard, fast and physical,” Forbes said. “That is something that I am good at doing. Coming from Mississippi State you had to play hard, fast and physically. I will just fit in right away.”
The Commanders are hoping Forbes brings his turnover-creating habits with him.
“I’m going to be a guy that is going to have a great attitude, coming in and working every day,” Forbes said. “Just helping the team win games, and hopefully my game is creating a lot of turnovers for the Washington Commanders.”
Justin Frommer is the Mississippi State sports reporter for The Dispatch.
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