After listening to Ron Rivera’s words about Emmanuel Forbes on Monday, and learning the what and why behind him being basically a healthy scratch on defense Sunday, Grant Paulsen has some questions.
Hosting Tuesday without Danny Rouhier, GP went in-depth on the first-rounder who has looked more like Elvis Patterson than Johnny Manziel – that’s more ‘toast’ than ‘money’ – and while it’s too early to call him a bust or a bad pick, it is fair to assess what we’re seeing, which isn’t great.
“What is allowed and shouldn’t be looked down on is assessing what's going on through six games, and through six games, this is going poorly,” GP said. “Forbes was starting, now he’s benched; he was playing every down in a couple of weeks ago, and decided he was going to run with a WR1, and now, you decided that your best path forward in Atlanta was to not play him for a single snap.”
What matters now, though, is what happens going forward.
“I had no issue with him not playing against the Falcons. The reset idea is actually a really good one, I think, particularly if they communicated it well, and basically told Forbes they threw a lot at him, and every corner in history has had a stretch like this,” Grant said.
To him, that means this:
“If they said, ‘look, we're gonna have you sit this week, but we want you to go through all the motions and do everything that you can in the film room and on the practice field this week like you're getting ready for a football game in case you still play extensively. We’re not afraid to put you on the field, so you’ll be active, and if it happens that you gotta play, you're gonna be out there. But, the plan is gonna be to have you sit and watch this week, because we want you to be able to just take a breath, relax and take some notes and watch.”
Sometimes, Grant says, a new view can change things, like a coordinator switching from the sidelines to the booth, and that new perspective can helps.
So yes, he was surprised Forbes was basically benched, but he knows it’s about the grand scheme and long-term…but he also knows that Forbes has to be back this week, or else it’s a real bad optic.
“I think they got to play him against the Giants for a couple of reasons. Number one, in the same way that I tell you that playing Jacoby Brissett at quarterback over Sam Howell in September, if that's what they would have wanted to do before they knew what Sam Howell was, was a bad idea because this isn't just about winning that extra football game, it’s about the development – I would say the same thing at corner,” Grant said. “With all due respect to Danny Johnson, a former undrafted free agent who has been a roster bubble guy for the most part over the last few years at camp, I think you've got to prioritize both giving yourself your best chance to win every single week with mixing in big picture thinking and development.”
That’s why GP would have Quan Martin on the field more now, as the development vs. winning fader is about 15/85 until a team is out, when it goes to 100 percent future looks.
But the second reason for Forbes to be back out there this Sunday at MetLife?
“I don’t perceive New York as a particularly dangerous passing team. They don't use Jalin Hyatt like I think they should, and my perception from the outside is that he’s a bit of a one-trick pony,” Grant said. “When he is out there, he runs a post or a nine route and runs a go route to take the lid off, so I think there's a lack of trust there – but I bring him up because he’s the one wide receiver the Giants have with any ability to scare me at all.”
GP went into his feelings about what he’s seeing from Big Blue’s receiving corps, which isn’t really daunting, but as he says, “if Forbes can’t run with Darius Slayton right now, then we got bigger issues.”
“Their best receiver I guess is still Daren Waller, although he’s not used that often, and they have a weapon at running back in Barkley, and Daniel Jones can run, but there’s nothing scary at wide receiver,” GP said. “So, why not have a training wheels game for Emmanuel Forbes, where you put him back out there with his directions and write everything down on the note card as to what you expect? If you don’t play him this week, it’s at least another week before he’s playing extensively again, because why would you ask him to do much against the Eagles after that was the team that just obliterated him? This Giants game, and the Patriots, whose receiving group might be worse than New York's, are really favorable matchups to get Forbes back on track, because you have them three of the next five before you face some of the tougher teams down the stretch.”
There are some other issues, like tackling against the run, that are still questions, but if he can’t cover receivers effectively, does it matter?
“When the concern, or the weaknesses in the scouting report, match the performance, I think that's different than just a ball hawk who makes plays on the ball occasionally giving up some big plays,” Grant said. “That happens all the time. There are great corners in this league that get torched, and elite Hall of Fame level corners who have given up 150 yards in a game to a receiver.
I think he bounces back from a lot of those things.”
