Emmanuel Forbes over Christian Gonzalez still haunts my dreams…
Heck, the majority of the moves Ron Rivera made in his tenure here, including hiring Eric Bieniemy as offensive coordinator, still haunt my dreams! Alas, we are heading into year two of a return to normalcy, and just like some fans need to let go of the old moniker, I need to let go of my deep hatred for Ron Rivera – because if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have Jayden Daniels!
Now, back to the piece at hand.
The Commanders cornerback room is one of the team’s biggest positional improvements from the beginning of last season to the start of 2025 training camp. Some fans may not be as giddy as I am about this position group, but I’m here to tell you why you should be!
Out with the old…
Ron Rivera draft disasters littered last season’s opening day roster. Benjamin St-Juste (2021) and Emmanuel Forbes (2023) were the two starting outside corners to begin the 2024 season. That experiment didn’t last long for Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt, as both were so bad it forced rookie slot corner Mike Sainristil to move to the outside and eventually led to Adam Peters trading for Marshon Lattimore and outright releasing Forbes.
Sainristil did a nice job outside and improved as the season went on. Still, the staff knew his best place was in the slot and something needed to be done to DRASTICALLY improve the depth chart.
In with the new…
I still consider Lattimore “new”, as he appeared in just two regular season games with Washington. Although he was with the team last season, Sainristil, entering his second NFL season, is still what most would consider as newer.
Now, on to the reinforcements.
Adam Peters knew the cornerback room needed a facelift. And just like the current uniforms are about to receive one, Peters and Quinn set out this offseason to make-over the positional group.
Veteran Jonathan Jones, a long-time Patriot with inside/outside versatility, was added in free agency. To further bolster the unit and ensure that Mikey could move back to his natural position in the slot, Peters drafted Trey Amos, the stud corner out of Ole Miss, in the second round. Most draft pundits saw that as a steal, as Amos was regarded as a first round talent. He possesses the length and athleticism that Quinn likes in his corners.
Peters wasn’t done yet…
He struck again after the draft landing two highly sought after free agents in Fentrell Cypress (6’ 190) and Car’lin Viggers (6’2” 200).
2025 potential two-deep:
CB: Marshon Lattimore/Fentrell Cypress OR Car’lin Viggers
CB: Trey Amos/Jonathan Joseph
Slot CB: Mike Sainristil/Noah Igbinoghene
*I think we keep six corners, and send a few, including Viggers or Cypress, to the practice squad.
Tyler’s Take:
Of all the changes made to the roster this offseason, the cornerback room is right behind the offensive line in terms of impact to the overall roster.
Lattimore appears healthy and if he can remain that way throughout the season, Washington will be getting one of the better cover-corners in the NFL. He only had a short time to learn a new defense last year, so having a full offseason and training camp will be huge for him.
I already spoke about Sainristil, but we all know his talents are best utilized in the slot. Moving him back there will strengthen the entire secondary, and his versatility will allow Whitt to disguise coverages and improve communication with the back end.
The wildcard here is Trey Amos.
If Trey can get a good handle on this defense during training camp, he will be competing for a starting position opposite Lattimore. If the staff feels he needs to be eased into his role, Joseph is a solid veteran presence who can hold down the fort until the rookie comes of age.
Noah Igbinoghene, who played his way to a new contract this offseason, is another guy with both inside/outside versatility (although he’s better in the slot), who knows this defense and is good with his communication.
Both Viggers and Cypress are two guys to watch as training camp unfolds.
This defense will be multi-disciplinary in its approach and coverages. Lattimore and Amos both excel in press-man, so I expect Whitt to show a lot of man-over, match-up man and even cover zero while they look to bring more pressure up front. Sainristil, a former wide receiver at Michigan, is excellent at understanding route-combos, and can often run the pattern for the receiver. He also showed he can blitz with Big Blue, so I expect him to do even more of that this season, with a safety coming down as the Robber and the defense showing a cloud-3.
Overall, I am extremely excited with the moves we made at cornerback this offseason. This is a complete overall from what we saw at the beginning of last season, and I think fans will be very pleased with the outcome in 2025!