Emmanuel Forbes

Career reboot in LA — from a benched WAS first-rounder to 18 PDs and 36 tackles in 2025.

Forbes was the 16th overall pick in the 2023 draft by Washington — a 6'1" press corner out of Mississippi State known for ball production (6 career college pick-sixes). His rookie year produced 11 pass defenses in 11 games, but Year 2 fell apart fast: cut by Washington just 2 games in and claimed by the Rams.

2025 is the redemption arc. Across 20 games (Rams went deep into playoffs), Forbes posted 36 solo tackles and 18 pass defenses — a career year, with his first NFL forced fumble.

18 PDs in 2025 — a top-tier corner production line, and a Rams franchise headline.

18 pass defenses in 2025 is elite CB1 volume. For context, this matches what the league-leader category typically requires — corners who post 18+ PDs in a season are almost always Pro Bowl candidates.

The Rams' move to claim Forbes off waivers in 2024 looks like the steal of that cycle. He's gone from "draft bust" narrative to one of the most productive young corners in the NFC West.

Career totals through age 23: 72 tackles, 32 PDs, 1 FF.

Three NFL seasons, 36 games, 32 career pass defenses — that's a near-1.0-PD-per-game rate, which is high-end starting CB territory. The tackling numbers (72 solo, just 3 assist) reflect his role as an outside corner playing in space, not as a fill-in-the-box defender.

Played for 2 teams in a 7-month span — cut by WAS after just 2 games of his sophomore year.

Forbes' Year 2 was one of the fastest-ever "first-round bust" narratives: 2 games on the Washington defense in 2024 (2 solo tackles, 1 PD), then a release. The Rams claimed him on waivers and gave him 3 more games of work that year.

A first-round CB being cut before the first quarter of his second NFL season is over is genuinely rare — and the recovery on Year 3 makes the 2025 line all the more striking.

From bust talk to 2025 production matching the elite '23 CB class.

The 2023 CB class also included Devon Witherspoon (5th overall, SEA), Christian Gonzalez (17th overall, NE), and Joey Porter Jr. (32nd, PIT). Through three seasons, Forbes' 32 career PDs ranks competitively against that group — Gonzalez missed 2023 with injury, Witherspoon has played at a Pro Bowl level, and Porter Jr. has been steady.

The difference: Forbes did it on two different defenses, with one cutting him mid-season. The Rams' coaching staff and a fresh start unlocked the version Washington thought they were drafting.