- The Washington Times - Monday, October 9, 2023

Ron Rivera reached his limit with Emmanuel Forbes. Despite assurances that the Washington Commanders rookie would work through his early struggles and that experience would be the best teacher, the team ultimately benched the first-round cornerback when the problems continued. 

The defense could only suffer so much with Forbes on the field.

“What we did with Emmanuel was kind of the indicator that we can’t go through this anymore,” Rivera said. 

Forbes’ benching — however necessary — highlights what a disappointment Washington’s rookie class has been through the first five weeks of the season. 

Forbes and the rest of the draft class — relegated mostly to backup and special teams duties other than Forbes — have underwhelmed.

Third-round center Ricky Stromberg and sixth-round running back Chris Rodriguez, for instance, have combined to take just 10 offensive snaps. Seventh-round pass rusher Andre Jones has been the only non-Forbes rookie to log a defensive snap — with just three. 

NFL drafts can be hit-or-miss, but getting it right often pays immediate dividends. 

Washington’s class a year ago has produced several 2023 starters: quarterback Sam Howell, wide receiver Jahan Dotson, running back Brian Robinson Jr. and safety Percy Butler. Rivera has said that the goal is to find Day 1 contributors in rounds 1 through 4, while taking developmental players in the last three rounds. 

But to start the 2023 season, the Commanders haven’t found a single immediate difference-maker. Forbes was the closest to that, and he was just benched for veteran Danny Johnson.

“When there’s an opportunity for those guys to play, they’ll be ready to go,” Rivera said. “That’s just kind of how it is. When we draft and just because you draft a guy in the second or third round doesn’t necessarily mean he’s an automatic starter. When I came into the league, guys that were drafted in the second, third round weren’t expected to play right away. 

“Usually the only ones that were expected to play right away were first-rounders. That wasn’t even all the time either.”

Of the rookies who have seldom played, second-rounder Quan Martin could be in line for more playing time soon. The Commanders placed safeties Darrick Forrest (shoulder) and Jeremy Reaves (knee) on injured reserve Monday, knocking them out for at least the next four games. 

Martin has played 77 special-team snaps. The reason the Illinois product hadn’t played on defense, Rivera said, was because of the players in front of him. The Commanders use a trio of safeties in Kam Curl, Percy Butler and Darrick Forrest. In training camp, Washington deployed Martin at a variety of different spots, but primarily served as Curl’s backup. 

The natural follow-up question to Rivera’s explanation, though, is, “Why did the Commanders draft Martin if he was just going to be stuck on the depth chart?” Washington’s offensive line needed addressing, and so the Commanders used the 47th overall pick on a reserve safety? 

At first glance, Martin seemed like a natural fit to fill Bobby McCain’s spot in the slot after the Commanders released McCain in the offseason. But that role instead went to cornerback Benjamin St-Juste. 

“We got Quan for a reason and this is why,” Rivera said, referring to the injuries to Forrest and Reaves. “So now it’s the next man up mentality and we just gotta go forward and get ready.”

Martin wasn’t the only curious pick in this year’s class, either. Stromberg developed nicely in camp, but he was drafted to play center and instead has done better at guard — where he’s stuck behind starters Sam Cosmi and Saadiq Charles. 

Fourth-rounder Braeden Daniels, too, struggled so much in training camp that the Commanders shelved the rookie tackle on a season-ending injured reserve when he hurt his rotator cuff in the preseason. Fifth-round defensive end K.J. Henry has been inactive for all but one game this season. 

As for Forbes, the 23-year-old was pulled after allowing 401 yards on 20 receptions for two touchdowns. Quarterbacks had a 125 passer rating when targeting Forbes, according to Pro Football Focus. 

Forbes’ struggles were so pronounced that Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay chimed in with words of encouragement after the Mississippi State product was benched.

“Keep your head up Forbes,” Slay wrote on X. “I was bench back to back games my rookie yr. Keep working u go be great!”

• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.

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