WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – This Sunday, the Rams will play the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It's not just the date of the Rams' Week 13 game, though.
A year ago to that day, Emmanuel Forbes Jr. was waived by the Commanders, the team that had drafted him 16th overall in the first round in 2023. Three days later, he was headed for Los Angeles after being claimed by the Rams.
Now, Forbes approaches that one-year mark with three interceptions across his last four games, playing confidently and as a key difference-maker in L.A.'s secondary.
"That's something I always expected to do," Forbes told theRams.com. "That's how I always see myself playing (like that), and that's just all the hard work paying off, honestly. But it's big for the building that I'm able to produce and help my team win all like these games. And when I do my job, when the secondary do our job, honestly, we just feel like we can win any game. So it's big."
When Forbes was waived by the Commanders on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, he found out he was claimed by the Rams that Sunday night, right before the deadline for the waiver claim period (typically that claiming period lasts 24 hours).
"I was excited for a fresh opportunity, a fresh start," Forbes said. "Got here and just got to work instantly."
The work began well before Forbes stepped onto his new team's practice field.
On his first day in the Rams' facility – the same day his flight landed in Los Angeles – assistant head coach/pass game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant brought him into his office, "and we just talked for a long time, and even started watching film on me and how and why what happened in Washington." Forbes said it's a conversation he always remembers, one that is the reason he is the way he is today.
"Leave that in the past, like, that's your past," Pleasant told him. "You got a brand new start here. Don't let nothing that happened to you in the past dictate how you going to perform here."
Pleasant said it was "very similar" to the meeting he had with former Rams cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Jalen Ramsey when they first joined the team, in terms of expressing his delight and excitement about his opportunity to coach them, but also incorporating reflection about why they were in their respective situations to be here.
"Each of one of those gentleman had a different set of circumstances which gave me an opportunity to be able to coach them," Pleasant told theRams.com. "I know in that first meeting, he (Forbes) thought we were gonna talk a lot about football, but we probably did everything but."
The last 20 minutes of that first meeting were spent going over a film cut-up of Forbes playing his best ball for the Commanders, but also some things Pleasant thought he could do better.
"But it was easy to get that film," Pleasant said. "Because of his transparency and his humility, he had already kind of talked about some of those things."
Pleasant's next step in restoring Forbes' confidence involved both football and personal aspects.
From a football standpoint, Pleasant wanted Forbes to "delve deep into" being a technician, a coaching point that came from what Pleasant had seen on film.
"I knew he had been blessed with an unbelievable set of skills, but I knew that if he honed in on his technique, he would watch some of the plays he would've struggled to make at this level become a little easier," Pleasant explained.
From a personal standpoint, Pleasant wanted Forbes to "calm over-eagerness to go out and prove the world wrong." Pleasant explained they had "really good play" at the cornerback position at that time with players playing to their full potential, so it would be up to Forbes to be a "really good" role player and learn until his opportunity arrived.
Asked if it was difficult to curtail that over-eagerness initially, Pleasant said the first thing he said to Forbes was that he saw frustration come when Forbes was told he wasn't going to be playing, but he also explained that because of the way Forbes was perceived at the time, everything from that point was going to be building what they needed. They wanted to have a long-term plan, and Pleasant said Forbes bought into that.
"I did promise him that before the season's over, he if followed what we thought was the plan, he would find himself an opportunity to play," Pleasant said. "Now, how much that would be, when that would be, we would never know, but I promised him, if he took care of what he needed to, he would get a chance to play."
Forbes' first chance to play came about a month later. After clinching a playoff berth in Week 17, the Rams elected to rest their starters in the following week's game against the Seahawks, which presented an opportunity for Forbes to see action. He logged 5 total tackles and one pass defensed while playing nearly 95% of the defensive snaps.
He continued to take that conversation with Pleasant to heart over the spring and summer this offseason, adding positive weight that continued to increase his confidence. His playmaking in training camp was one of the highlights of camp, and seemingly a sign of things to come.
It's not just the interceptions, but the overall production that has made Forbes an asset to the Rams' secondary. Even in an atypical cornerback rotation, Forbes has continued to thrive and showcase the length, speed, athleticism and ball skills that made him worthy of being a first-round pick out of Mississippi State.
Yes, he got a pick against the Bucs last week on Sunday Night Football, but according to Next Gen Stats, he also faced seven targets and did not allow a single reception against the Buccaneers. NGS said no defender since Week 12, 2022 has been targeted more times without allowing a catch. Forbes' 5 passes defensed in the win were a career-high.
Additionally, per NGS, Forbes matched up against Jaxon Smith-Njigba 20 times in Week 11 against the Seahawks, the most times Smith-Njigba has faced one defender this season. Smith-Njigba caught 3 of 5 targets for 30 yards against Forbes; 1.5 yards per matchup against Smith-Njigba is a season-low (minimum 7 matchups).
In Week 10 against the 49ers, his fourth-quarter interception prevented the 49ers from making it a one-possession game when the Rams led 35-20.
"That's exactly it," defensive coordinator Chris Shula said, when asked what it's been like watching Forbes play the way they he knew he was capable of. "We saw it all training camp, all of OTAs and I'm just excited that the country is getting a chance to see it and people around the league are getting a chance to see what a competitor he is and how tough he is. He makes plays with the ball in the air with how athletic he is so it's just exactly what it is. We've been seeing it and it's a credit to him. He's been practicing really hard and his performance is a result of the work he's put in and he knows that so we're just going to try to continue to do that."
No teammate has had a closer seat to Forbes' journey than safety Kam Curl, who had already been in Washington for three seasons by the time Forbes got there. They reunited in Los Angeles last winter, close to nine months after Curl had signed with the Rams as a free agent.
Earlier this week, Curl tweeted "I'm so happy for 1 bruh," and to hear him tell it, it's hard not to see why.
Curl's input played a role in the Rams taking a chance on Forbes, telling Rams decision-makers the type of coaches they had in Los Angeles were exactly what Forbes needed.
"I mean, that's my rook, he was my rookie in Washington, and he gonna be my rook forever. We can be 60 years old, I'm gonna tell him, 'Go give me some donuts!' and he better do it," a smiling Curl said. "But that's just our relationship, that's my little brother, man. I just knew how much potential he had. When they came up to me when they were thinking about bringing him over and asking questions, I was just telling them, like, 'This is is exactly what he need.' The type of coaches we have here with (head coach Sean) McVay and AP (Pleasant) and (safeties coach Chris) Beake and (defensive assistant) Mike (Harris) in the DB room, I knew this is exactly what he needed. And it's just coming to the forefront."
What about those Rams coaches is exactly what Forbes needed?
"Just the attention to detail that they have and the knowledge that AP has for us DBs," Curl said. "Like, he has everything for us. He's one of the best DB coaches I've ever had. And just, he needed somebody to believe in him. They kind of wrote him off in Washington, and then he came here, and McVay and AP and them constantly told him, 'We believe in you,' and they give him shots, and it's working out for him. That's what I'm happy about."
Outside linebacker Jared Verse hasn't known Forbes as long as Curl has, but likely has a similar appreciation for his doubt-fueled journey given how part of his own football journey included that.
Getting to know him over the last year, Verse said he and Forbes hang out together outside of the facility a lot, whether that be grabbing dinner, going to a mall, or sitting down and watching a game. As he's learned more about Forbes' own journey, he's been just as happy for Forbes' success and regained confidence as the rest of his teammates.
"When you form that kind of relationship, you see what that person does on the field also and see how much work he puts in in the weight room, in the meeting room, in the facility, on the practice field, and to see it finally translate, especially because I didn't know too much about his past before he got here, to hear how people were counting him out. Now that he's dominating, people are like, 'Okay, like the Rams are doing something,'" Verse said.
"No, that was just 'E-Man', that's who he always was. It just took a good group around him believing in him for him to dominate like this."
