School: Mississippi State

Position: CB

Year: Junior

The Good: Forbes is well-known for two literal things. One, his ball production at Mississippi State was literally historic, with 14 total INTs and a record-setting 6 pick-sixes. He sees the game clearly and makes such good breaks on the ball, a combination that explains his INT count. He’s definitely a plus athlete with fluid movement and loose hips. He also plays the position like he dares QBs to throw in his direction.

The Bad: The other literal thing for Forbes: he weighs 166lbs, which places him literally in the 0th percentile for cornerbacks. While Forbes at least plays the position with enough physicality, he’s an expectedly bad tackler. I’ve heard some people defend his willingness to tackle…ehhh. He does enough putting his body in the way to not get taken off the field, I’ll leave it at that. One of the main drawbacks to Forbes’ on-field profile is one shared with most ballhawking CBs: his eyes can get stuck on QBs then he loses receivers behind him. There are also multiple instances of him on tape getting caught jumping routes in front instead of falling back as assigned. Near the line of scrimmage, Forbes can find himself chasing coming out of press, and he can fall one step too many behind quicker WRs off their releases. He’s a generally lackadaisical player in zone coverage too.

The Bottom Line: Whoever pounds the table for Forbes should probably do so without comparing him to another defender; if he makes it in the NFL, he’ll succeed in a similar way that DeVonta Smith does. I totally get why some teams will love Forbes and love him enough to draft him in Round 1. It’s hard to find true playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, and he’s one of them. Just because Forbes won’t be the cup of tea for every team – personally I’m not wild about him – doesn’t mean that he won’t rack up ball production as soon as he gets into the league.

Grade: Second Round

Pro Comp: Fred Smoot

Games Watched:

• Vanderbilt 2021
• Clemson 2021
• Arkansas 2022
• Kentucky 2022
• Clemson 2022

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