Another Dream Fulfilled At Home
Emmanuel Forbes becomes latest to prove the loftiest of goals can be achieved at Mississippi State.
Joel Coleman, Senior Writer
4/28/2023
STARKVILLE – Emmanuel Forbes was driving around his hometown of Grenada, Mississippi, on Thursday several hours before the NFL Draft got underway. The Mississippi State cornerback knew that when night fell, there was a good chance he’d be realizing the dream he’d long chased.
“I thought of playing in the NFL since the first time I stepped on a football field,” Forbes said. “It was either that or playing baseball the rest of my life. Once I wasn’t able to play baseball, it became reality that I really wanted to play football and it’s something I just pursued my whole life.”
Also in the daylight hours on Thursday, Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera was behind the wheel of a car chatting as well. The Commanders’ Twitter account shared Rivera’s thoughts on who Washington would take in the draft with the 16th overall selection.
“The big thing for us is if Emmanuel Forbes is sitting there, [it’s] the opportunity for us to get our guy – one of the guys that we really highly covet right now,” Rivera said. “[He’s a] playmaker. He’s a turnover machine, and that can impact our team and our defense in a very good way.”
Coach called his shot@emmanuelforbes7 | #HTTC pic.twitter.com/F9yq6AoV7l
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) April 28, 2023
Two men. Two missions. Shortly after 9 p.m. central time Thursday, the goals of both Forbes and Rivera were officially achieved and aligned.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell solidified things as he stepped to the draft podium in Kansas City, Missouri, and delivered the announcement: “With the 16th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Washington Commanders select Emmanuel Forbes, defensive back, Mississippi State.”
Washington had its man. Forbes had his moment – the one he’d longed for since his youth. It was fitting Forbes received the news at a gathering near his home in Grenada, surrounded by family and friends, for this was certainly a homegrown achievement.
At Mississippi State, those have become commonplace. It’s just what happens in Starkville. MSU continues to be a factory that takes players from the Magnolia State with lofty ambitions and gives them a legitimate chance to turn those dreams into reality.
The facts don’t lie. Mississippi State has now produced five first-round NFL Draft picks over the last five years – Johnathan Abram, Jeffery Simmons, Montez Sweat, Charles Cross and now Forbes. Four of the five were born and played high school football in the state of Mississippi. The lone one that didn’t – Sweat – played at a Mississippi junior college.
All hitched their wagons to MSU and all reaped the benefits of that choice, showing how State has become a gateway – not only to Sundays – but to the top of draft boards. It’s a claim no other Magnolia State school can make over the last half decade. Just look at the scoreboard since 2019:
Mississippi State first-round NFL Draft picks: 5
All other schools in the state of Mississippi combined: 0
???????? first rounders in the last ???????? years ??
— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) April 28, 2023
...no other school in the state has one in that span! #HailState?? | #FromStateToSundays pic.twitter.com/LN37Dq6EGr
Starkville is an undisputed launching pad to professional success. And it’s not just draft-night success. Some of the NFL’s biggest current names were forged at Mississippi State, whether or not they went in the opening round of the draft.
Dak Prescott, a multi-time Pro Bowler, has been the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys for going on eight years. He’s the only signal caller remaining in the NFL that’s been with his current team since 2016.
Defensive lineman Chris Jones has won two Super Bowl rings and earned all kinds of All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections.
Fletcher Cox is a Super Bowl champion, too, and has been a force on the Philadelphia Eagles defensive front for more than a decade.
Simmons, with the Tennessee Titans, is right there with Jones as perhaps the two best defensive tackles in all of football.
Cross went straight from State to the top of the Seattle Seahawks depth chart. He started every game on the Seattle offensive line last season.
The list goes on and on. There’s Darius Slay, Willie Gay, Jr., Elgton Jenkins, J.T. Gray and Martin Emerson, Jr., just to name a few.
Now add Forbes to the list and the team that picked him believes – like many Bulldogs before him – that Forbes is destined to be an NFL star. In fact, the Commanders have felt that way for a while.
[Forbes has] been on the radar from the beginning. I do a lot of tape during the season, and he was a guy that caught my eye immediately. Once I saw his tape and I looked at his numbers…I put his tape on and he fits the bill. He totally fit the bill from day one.Washington Commanders general manager Martin Mayhew
There’s a lot of things about [Forbes] to like… He’s a 4.3 [second 40-yard dash] guy. And when you can run and you have that length, you’re going to put yourself in position. He’s got very good awareness. Go back to his tape and you see some of the plays he makes. One play in particular that reminds me more than anything else is when he gets into a hinge technique, and he’s got a high guy and a guy below him and he puts himself in between both. And the quarterback is not so sure, and he hesitates. Next thing you know, [Forbes] is driving on the ball and making a big play. You see that and see that element to his game, and you know that’s what you’re getting.Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera
[Forbes] has a really good feel for routes and route combinations. He has great awareness in coverage. He can see where everybody is. Then, he can track the ball really well down the field. That’s a difficult thing to do. When you’re running with your back to the ball, you’ve got to turn around and locate it. He does a great job of doing that, which probably comes from him being on the offensive side of the ball when he was younger. So, all those things come into play, but the guy just has a really good feel as a corner, and he's got really good length for press coverage as well…He’s tall and he’s long. He gets his hands on guys in press. He disrupts routes. So, he’s the total package. He really is.Washington Commanders general manager Martin Mayhew
The Mississippi State family would surely agree with Mayhew’s assessment, as Forbes was certainly the total package for the Bulldogs. Forbes believes his time in the Maroon and White has perfectly prepared him to be a Commander.
“They play really hard, really fast and really physical,” Forbes said of Washington. “That’s something that I’m really good at doing coming from Mississippi State [where] you have to play fast, hard and physical. I will just fit in right away I hope.”
It seems safe to say the incredibly talented Forbes will indeed fit in just fine in Washington. He’s built to succeed through his own hard work and the refinement he got at Mississippi State.
It’s all led to this – the latest dream born, grown and realized all within the state lines of Mississippi.
“It was a lot of fun hearing my name called,” Forbes said late Thursday in what had to be the understatement of the evening.
As Forbes’ new journey begins, all eyes now turn to find out who’ll be the next to go from State to Sundays.
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