NFL Draft Thread

[SFREDSKIN]

Emmanuel Forbes

Forbes tied the FBS record for pick-sixes with six throughout his career. Of the corners I’ve seen in the draft, Forbes has the best overall ball skills and is a very difficult player to track down once he secures the football. He was a former wide receiver at Grenada High School, which is obvious when watching his natural ability to pluck the ball out of the air.

A cornerback who knows how to create turnovers is crucial in the NFL, Quarterback’s clocks are accelerated, and Forbes has the athletic ability and length (6-foot-1, 32¼-inch arms with a 79-inch wingspan) to be a nuisance at the catch point in one-on-one situations.



The outlier trait with Forbes is the weight - he’s only 166 pounds, placing him at a zero percentile weight by NFL standards. He’s very thin and a bit high-cut at the waist. However, his ball production in the SEC was very impressive. 14 interceptions and 20 passes defended.

Forbes made an immediate impact on Mississippi State as a freshman in 2020. He played over 700 snaps in three consecutive seasons for the Bulldogs, with a combined 57.6% catch rate. He was a Second-Team All-American in 2022, a Freshman All-SEC selection in 2020, and was Second-Team All-SEC in 2021. He played man and zone coverage for Mississippi State and had good man coverage tape against Alabama’s Jameson Williams in 2021. Here’s my synopsis:

Emmanual Forbes has the most pick sixes in FBS history - wow! Forbes is a ball-hawk with length and coverage versatility. His size at 166 pounds is concerning and is in the zero percentile for weight at the position; still, the 22-year-old offers immense upside for a player who has experience handling many different coverages and techniques at the LOS.

He’s not the strongest in run support or while tackling, but it’s not due to a lack of desire. Forbes is an elite competitor who comported himself well playing against some of the top players in the SEC. I do understand the weight concerns, but the NFL is transitioning to smaller - quicker - types of athletes. Is it still a concern, sure…but it’s not nearly as big of an issue as it would have been ten years ago.

Creating turnovers is the most important part of playing defense, and Forbes was elite in this manner throughout his three seasons at Mississippi State. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Forbes selected in the back end of the first round, despite his outlier weight.

However, I love the upside and the traits displayed by Forbes - it really just comes down to adding weight and strength to his game. I’ll say this though...in terms of coverage, Forbes was stronger than I anticipated for a 166-pound cornerback.