Rams' Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes is Rewriting His Story

How can a man stand up when he's perpetually put down? It's easy to say it's about how someone responds to adversity, but it's not easy or even possible to rise above it all when the weight of others keeps pulling you under.

This was highlighted by Pro Football Focus' Ryan Smith mentioning Forbes was one the losing side of a WR-CB battle.

"The Commanders selected Forbes in the first round (16th overall) in the 2023 NFL Draft, but he was no match for Eagles All-Pro wideout A.J. Brown, who got the best of him twice that season," wrote Smith. "Brown was targeted 10 times in their Week 4 contest, catching six passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns (143.8 passer rating)."

"The second matchup between Washington and Philadelphia that year wasn’t quite as noteworthy as far as the individual matchup (two receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown), but Brown accounted for an 8-130-2 line overall for the game. He was simply unstoppable for the Commanders’ defense, no matter who covered him that day."

That was then, and this is now. The Emmanuel Forbes currently operating on the Rams has looked good in OTAs. While he hasn't put the pads on yet this season, Forbes looks to be mentally caught up with the scheme, making plays when the ball comes his way.

Forbes has been routinely praised by the coaching staff, including Sean McVay who spoke about Forbes earlier this week.

McVay recently spoke about Forbes' growth physically and as a player.

“Yeah, I think he has. (Director of Strength and Conditioning) Justin Lovett and his group do such a great job. Forbes is bulking up, looking good, but I think what's been awesome is, and we talked about this at the very beginning, having an understanding of what we're trying to get done. He comes in in the middle of the year, and you could see I really liked his demeanor, I thought he did a good job in the Seattle game when he played last year, but really understanding some of the things that (Assistant Head Coach/Pass Game Coordinator) Aubrey (Pleasant) is teaching him and how do I apply it in these team settings?"

"He's got great movement. He's got a really good concept trigger. You can see the ball production where he's doing things that had never been done before at the collegiate level in terms of being able to get your hands on the ball and then go score. I've really been pleased with him. There's been a lot of positive guys that have really stood out or really kind of taken their game to another level. I'm looking forward to seeing once we put the pads on and getting into some of the preseason games, let's continue to apply that. But been really pleased with Emmanuel and he's done a great job.”

When Forbes and the Rams take on the Eagles, expect a new narrative to be written about the former first-round pick.