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The Washington Commanders don’t have a player on the current roster who has been under more scrutiny in the last year than second-year cornerback Emmanuel Forbes.
A recent viral photo of Forbes won’t put a stop to that talk anytime soon.
Forbes took a picture on May 25 with Grenada High School wide receiver Zayion Cotton at Forbes’ football camp in Grenada, Mississippi, which quickly went viral over how skinny Forbes appears after Cotton posted the photo on his X account.
“Had a great time at your camp today @emmanuelforbes7 thanks for the signed jersey!!” Cotton wrote alongside the photo.
Forbes also went to Grenada High School and is dwarfed in the photo by Cotton, 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, who is a junior at Grenada High and part of the 2026 recruiting class, according to 24/7 Sports.
There have been weight concerns around Forbes and his “wire-thin frame” since prior to the 2023 NFL draft. The Mississippi State product measured in at the NFL combine at 6-foot-1 and 166 pounds.
Social Media Users React to Emmanuel Forbes’ Viral Photo
As could be expected, X users were less than kind in their responses after NFL aggregator Dov Kleiman shared Cotton’s photo with his 290,000 followers.
The post garnered over 5 million views in its first 24 hours on X.
“Bro built like the Apple Jacks cinnamon stick,” one user reacted.
“What (Philadelphia WR) AJ Brown sees,” another fan wrote alongside a picture of a traffic cone.
“This can’t be true. You’re trolling. That kid is 12,” wrote another X user.
“Idk how you can be a professional athlete and have all the time in the world in the off-season to hire a professional trainer to work out and bulk up and you still choose to be a failure,” another X user wrote.
Forbes Had Rough Rookie Season in 2023
As a rookie in 2023, Forbes went through some epic growing pains.
He was torched by Philadelphia Eagles star A.J. Brown for 9 receptions, 175 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 4 and seemingly never recovered. That dismantling got bad enough that Brown landed a $10,927 fine for taunting Forbes at one point during the game.
Forbes was benched multiple times during the season but will get a new start with first-year head coach Dan Quinn — one of the NFL’s most well-known defensive coordinators over the last decade.
Forbes finished his rookie season with 38 tackles, 1 interception and 11 pass deflections in 14 games with 6 starts. According to PFF, Forbes graded out at 50.9% for his rookie season. He was also the worst cornerback in the NFL against the run with a 28.9% grade.
“Following the blueprint of other teams during the regular season, Dallas picked on Forbes in coverage in Week 18,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman wrote following the 2023 regular season.
“He allowed catches on all seven targets into his coverage for 54 yards. He let up four first downs and a Jalen Tolbert touchdown. “Forbes had plenty to endure this year, including a heavy target share, a midseason benching and an ejection against Seattle. He also finished with a league-low 28.4 run-defense grade. Washington has a ton of issues to alleviate on defense, one of them being the need for significant improvement in Forbes’ sophomore season.”
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