Tag: CB Benjamin St-Juste

How ready are the Commanders at cornerback?

Previewing the cornerbacks.

What sort of group have the Commanders assembled at cornerback?

Do you realize the Washington Commanders gave up an unbelievable 518 points in 2023? The closest team to them (Cardinals) surrendered 63 points less.

The Commanders couldn’t pressure opposing quarterbacks, and the back seven made up for it by not covering anybody either! The passing defense was so bad that it gave up 344 more yards than the 31st-ranked Bengals. Opposing teams passed for 39 touchdowns against Washington—last in the league.

Ron Rivera was seen on a Commanders video excitedly driving to work on the morning of the 2023 NFL draft, anticipating drafting Emmanuel Forbes, available at No. 16. Rivera selected Forbes.

https://twitter.com/Tiller56/status/1693784745493111054

Forbes struggled terribly during the 2023 season, but what made it even worse was that the coach coaching the defensive backs (Brent Vieselmeyer) was an unqualified secondary coach, as Rivera was in a lame-duck year.

This year, Forbes has gained 15 pounds, and there is a qualified secondary coach (Tommy Donatell) who coached the Chargers secondary the last three seasons. Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. coached the secondary for the Packers (9 seasons), Falcons (1 season), and Cowboys (3 seasons).

The Commanders’ current roster includes five corners: Forbes, Benjamin St-Juste, rookie Mike Sainristil, and veterans Mike Davis and Noah Igbinoghene.

Sainristil was great in college, but this is the NFL. There will be struggles in learning, but coaches say he has continued to get after it and looked good in training camp.

Davis and St-Juste both have plenty of experience starting outside, so they could very well be the choices to start the opener next Sunday.

Igbinoghene was the Dolphins’ first-round choice in 2020 (30 overall), but he just hasn’t developed as was projected coming out of Auburn. In fact, Igbinoghene has only started five games in his four NFL seasons. He did spend 2023 with Quinn and Whitt in Dallas and chose to follow them to Washington.

Note: Lastly, Commanders Wire had last read the Commanders have two corners on the practice squad (Chigozie Anusiem and Bobby Price). However, we noticed Price is actually listed on the roster. We’ve searched for confirmation but have yet to find any communication from the Commanders that such a move was made. Consequently, it might be a clerical error.

Dan Quinn already bringing intense leadership to the Commanders

Some excellent perspective on Dan Quinn’s leadership.

Benjamin St-Juste sees a difference in leadership this year, a big difference.

The Team 980 afternoon show host Craig Hoffman asked St-Juste following practice Wednesday what a major difference there is from recent seasons, for example.

“We compete for everything, honestly. It’s crazy. The first week Coach Quinn came here, it was all about competing. Competing in the weight room, competing in drills, competing in the class meeting rooms. Who can learn it the fastest? Who knows all the plays in the first week?”

Of course that makes them better athletes, but some might wonder, how does it affect their psyche as players? St-Juste certainly thinks it does and already is.

“When we go to the field, there is no hierarchy of who should go out there, or politics of this player should play. Everybody is going to compete, everybody is going to get a fair chance, and the best players are going to play. I think that is what makes great teams great.”

“He (Dan Quinn) is giving everyone the chance to show how much do you want to make this team. How much do you want to impact this team? I love it. It has pushed me to be a better player, and that’s what I am here for.”

Martin Luther King said, “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” Early on, Dan Quinn shows he did not come to the Commanders to search for and find consensus. They were 4-13 last year!

No, Quinn has come to mold and shape this team in his image. If you don’t compete hard, you’re gone. Those who love it, like St-Juste, can see it will make them better players.

One Commanders player, hoping for big year, recently became a father

Benjamin St-Juste, entering his fourth NFL season, had a life-changing experience this offseason.

He is entering his fourth NFL season, so this could be it with Washington.

That could be said of several Commanders, those drafted in 2021, who received a four-year deal. Even more, this is the first year of the Adam Peters-Dan Quinn era. They feel no commitment to these players they did not draft.

Benjamin St-Juste worked hard to get ready for this important season. But much more was the fact he became a father this off-season, and feels that weight. He spoke with Craig Hoffman following Wednesday’s practice.

“A lot more motivation and it just feels great to live for something bigger than myself,” said St-Juste. “I noticed it instantly as soon as she came out of the womb, honestly. Wow! I created this. It was kind of like a wave of responsibility and at the same time a wave of great energy. Like I said, to live for something bigger than myself.”

The fourth-year cornerback out of the University of Minnesota is beginning to realize there are things bigger than his job, but his job is now bigger as a result as well. “Whether I am motivated or not, I have somebody that depends on me. I have a family. Those values and discipline now translate to the football field.”

Certainly, that has been a life experience for many young adults. Of course, there are many who don’t get it and run from maturing. However, for many of us, fatherhood and family are used by God to mature us and grow us into better, more responsible adults. We begin to learn through being forced to live for others.

Young people who often lived for ourselves now develop into adults living for others, becoming contributors to society and teachers of their children. It sounds like St-Juste is beginning to see this. He is headed on a better path for himself. It will benefit the Commanders in 2024 and, more importantly, his family for years to come.

Which Commanders/Rivera draft choices are in danger?

Which Ron Rivera draft picks could be in danger of not making the 53-man roster?

With a new coaching staff, new general manager and plenty of new free agent additions, which Commanders draft choices made by Ron Rivera are in danger of not making the 53-man roster?

Rivera’s drafts have proven to be largely ineffective. So, why would the new administration feel any obligation to hang on to anyone from a 4-13 team?

From Rivera’s 2023 draft class, clearly, Braeden Daniels needs to be impactful, or he is gone. In the 2023 training camp, Daniels proved he was not ready for the NFL and was placed on the season-ending injured reserve list.

Defensive back Quan Martin and running back Chris Rodriguez were the two most promising rookies during the 2023 regular season. First-round selection cornerback Emmanuel Forbes struggled tremendously, and third-round choice C/G Ricky Stromberg was injured, only playing in four games. Defensive ends Andre Jones and K.J. Henry also need to have good camps, with Henry having flashed more in 2023.

From the 2022 class, only Jahan Dotson and Brian Robinson are safe, while Sam Howell has already been traded. With the drafting of defensive tackle Johnnie Newton, are both Phidarian Mathis and John Ridgeway sure to make the roster? Mathis was a second-round choice in 2022, while Ridgeway was claimed from Dallas. Mathis has battled injuries keeping him off of the field, while Ridgeway has flashed more often than Mathis.

Defensive backs Percy Butler and Christian Holmes have both performed well on special teams, while tight end Cole Turner and guard Chris Paul have not produced as well as Rivera had sometimes proclaimed they would in their two years.

Guard Sam Cosmi (2021) appears to have become the best of the Rivera draft choices (2020-23), and tight end John Bates might be safe at tight end. However, 2024 is a must-year for linebacker/edge Jamin Davis, receiver Dyami Brown, corner Benjamin St-Juste, safety Darrick Forrest and receiver/returner Dax Milne.

Eight players were drafted in 2020 by Rivera, but heading into training camp in 2024, not a single of those players are still with the team.

Plain and simple: Adam Peters and Dan Quinn don’t owe anything to the players drafted by Rivera. So, why would it surprise any of us if several of the above players are cut during this upcoming preseason?

Commanders get a team win in Atlanta 24-16

It may have been ugly at times, but it was a much-needed team win.

My friend told me late in the fourth quarter, “Thank goodness for the short fields.”

He is exactly correct, as the Washington Commanders defense and special teams led the way in the Commanders’ 24-16 victory Sunday in Atlanta.

It was a team win as the Commanders offense received plenty of help Sunday in providing short fields and big plays to spur the team to a much-needed win, breaking their three-game losing streak.

The three Washington touchdowns were scored on drives of three plays for 11 yards, seven plays gaining 52 yards, and two plays accumulating 27 yards. Can you imagine winning an NFL game when your three touchdown drives only average out to a mere 30 yards a drive?

Trailing 7-3 early in the second quarter, the Commanders Jamison Crowder received a Falcons punt at his own 28-yard line and provided Washington their first exciting punt return of 2023, returning the punt 61 yards to the Atlanta 11.

Sam Howell connected with Antonio Gibson three plays later from the 1, and Washington led 10-7.

The Commanders did drive 52 yards for a touchdown, culminated when Howell found Curtis Samuel from the 7 for a 17-7 lead.

Leading 17-10 in the third quarter, Kendall Fuller intercepted Desmond Ridder at the 50-yard line, returning the pass 23 yards to the Falcons 27.

Brian Robinson then ran for three yards before going 24 yards for a touchdown and a 24-10 Commanders lead.

That was it from the offense. In their next four possessions, they only ran 15 plays gaining a mere 32 yards (just over 2 yards a play).

The Commanders defense again came to the rescue. Leading 24-16, the Commanders blitzed on 3rd & Goal from the 7, forcing a premature Ridder pass, which was intercepted by Benjamin St-Juste in the end zone.

With only 31 seconds remaining, the Lions had driven 59 yards and were at the Commanders’ 34. Defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio then rushed only four, dropping seven into coverage. Linebacker Jamin Davis jumped the slant route intended for Bijan Robinson and made a terrific interception saving the game for the Commanders.

Defense, special teams, offense…a team win.