When the Washington Commanders selected Emmanuel Forbes Jr. in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft, they believed they had found a cornerback to anchor their secondary.
By almost every statistic, Forbes has been one of the NFL’s worst cornerbacks in the nearly two years since — a player for whom teams may be unwilling to deal a sixth or seventh round draft pick.
Even in a season in which the Commanders have become one of the NFL’s top storylines, sitting 5-2 and first in the NFC East Division heading into Week 8, cornerback has remained a problem — Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder identified the position as the Commanders’ biggest weakness at the midway point of the season.
“Washington could use cornerback help now and the problem is only going to get worse in the offseason when Benjamin St-Juste, Noah Igbinonghene and Michael Davis hit free agency in the offseason,” Holder wrote on Twitter.
If the Commanders need aid right away, they should explore trading for Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft and a player who has spent the majority of his career on the league’s weakest team.
Horn is one of the NFL players to keep an eye on before the November 5 trade deadline, according to SB Nation’s Mark Scholfield and James Dator.
“We’ll wait to see how much the Panthers blow up their roster at the deadline, but at the very least the team should entertain offers for star cornerback Jaycee Horn,” the two authors wrote on October 23. “One of the best man-coverage CBs in football this season, Horn’s best attribute is that he doesn’t give up explosive plays, which is the foundation of passing in the NFL right now.”
What A Trade Offer for Horn Could Look Like
There is a recent deal in the NFL that may provide some insight into what the Panthers could receive in exchange for Horn.
When the Jacksonville Jaguars dealt Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams, they received two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick in exchange for the game’s top young cornerback at the time — who, like Horn, was in the middle of his fourth season.
Horn is not on the same level as Ramsey at that stage in his career. More than his talent, injuries have defined Horn’s career to this date, as he missed more games (31) than he played (29) in his first three seasons, despite having 3 interceptions and 7 pass deflections in 2022, the one season he played more than half of his team’s games.
A respectable offer for Horn at this time would most likely be a second or third-round pick. Anything more than that may not be worth it to the Commanders.
Horn’s father was a standout NFL WR in the early 2000s.
Longtime NFL fans will recognize Horn’s father, 4-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Joe Horn, who was one of the league’s top receivers in the early 2000s and played 12 seasons in the NFL, including four seasons with more than 1,200 receiving yards with the New Orleans Saints.
Joe Horn is most remembered for one of the most iconic touchdown celebrations of all time, in which he buried a cell phone (a flip phone!) beneath one of the goal posts and pulled it out after scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.
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