Emmanuel Forbes is a ball-hawking playmaker who has the intangibles to be a premier cornerback in the league. Earning a 2nd-Team All-American nod and a 1st-Team All-SEC, Forbes has shown time and time again that he has a tremendous talent of taking the ball away from the offense. In 2022, Forbes had 46 tackles, 16 passes defensed, and a remarkable 6 interceptions, pulling up a chair at the table amongst a stacked cornerback draft class.
Despite the slender build, Forbes contains a powerful two-handed jab on receivers during press coverage, occasionally taking receivers out of plays. Forbes’ ability to read plays pre-snap gives him and his defense the upper hand, which consistently leads to quick jumps on throws. This tremendous ability led to 14 interceptions in his career, with 6 of them going for touchdowns, an FBS record.
However, many experts believe that Forbes’ extreme aggressiveness to go after the ball can lead to him heavily biting on double moves. Forbes also must tighten up his footwork, as he has been shown to play past his toes, which can make it difficult to keep balance when switching direction– nothing some good film work and on-field repetition couldn’t remedy.
Forbes is just the playmaker the Raiders should consider in the 2nd round. However, the Raiders might be tempted to look elsewhere in an effort to fill the gaps for a defense that currently lacks depth and playmakers. With that being said, if the Raiders find themselves in a situation where a trade to obtain an additional 2nd-round pick cannot be accomplished, taking a slight reach for Forbes at #38 would not be frowned upon, depending on if the cornerback need isn’t filled in the 1st-round.
