While you never truly know which player a team covets in the NFL draft, especially those outside of the top 10, you have a pretty good idea of which player will be available.
The Washington Commanders held the No. 16 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Most believed Washington would target an offensive lineman or cornerback in the first round.
The Commanders ultimately chose Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes ahead of Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez. Many Twitter GMs had Gonzalez ranked ahead of Gonzalez behind Devon Witherspoon.
Next Gen Stats believed Forbes was the NFL draft’s second-ranked cornerback.
As Washington head coach Ron Rivera drove to Washington’s team facility Thursday morning ahead of the first day of the NFL draft, he talked of a specific player the Commanders wanted — Emmanuel Forbes.
Check it out:
Coach called his shot@emmanuelforbes7 | #HTTC pic.twitter.com/F9yq6AoV7l
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) April 28, 2023
Rivera made it clear how much Washington liked Forbes and planned to draft him, regardless of who slipped. If Witherspoon had dropped, it’s probably a different story, but that was never happening.
Gonzalez fell into Washington’s lap, but Rivera went with the “playmaker” that the Commanders “highly covet” in Forbes.