Regardless of what you think of former Washington general manager Scot McCloughan, it’s clear he has plenty of respect from around the NFL.
McCloughan was with Washington for two years until former team president Bruce Allen dismissed him in March 2017. Before his time in Washington, McCloughan was a former GM of the San Francisco 49ers and a top personnel executive for the Seattle Seahawks during a time when they drafted Russell Wilson and the Legion of Boom.
Since leaving Washington, McCloughan went back to running his own scouting service, which a number of NFL teams use. He helped the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles as a consultant in recent years.
McCloughan keeps up with every draft prospect, and while he isn’t right on every player, no one is or has ever been.
Recently, McCloughan was a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast and reviewed Washington’s draft. One thing is clear with McCloughan, he loves football and is never bitter about his time with Washington, even when he has plenty of reason to be.
Now, for his analysis. He’s a big fan of first-round pick cornerback Emmanuel Forbes.
“It’s the only thing that held me back from giving him a top-10 grade, in my opinion,” he said of Forbes’ weight. “I thought athletically, everybody was talking about Christian Gonzalez, being the most, numbers-wise, testing and all that, and he probably was on paper; I thought watching tape this year of all the corners, I thought he [Forbes] was the most gifted, being able to play press and play off. And the thing that’s unique about him playing press, you can well say he isn’t strong enough, he’s got good length, and he’s smart. He reminds me a lot of Richard Sherman, who we drafted in Seattle, from the standpoint where he might not be the quickest, fastest, or have the most twitch, but the son of a gun is always in a play-making position, always gets his hands on the ball and when he does it’s an interception. It changes games.”
McCloughan noted how a much smaller Forbes wasn’t afraid to attack ball carriers in the running game in the rugged SEC, something you don’t often see from other cornerbacks.
What about second-round pick Quan Martin?
McCloughan said, “I might like him even more.”
McCloughan noted how regardless of how many Illinois games you watched of Martin, he was the same in every game, in a good way. He was always good, always reliable, and around the football. Can play anywhere in the secondary and on day one.
McCloughan praised all of Washington’s picks and did say seventh-round pick, Andre Jones, he didn’t see enough to give an evaluation. However, he really likes Ricky Stromberg, Braeden Daniels, Chris Rodriguez Jr. and K.J. Henry. Believes the Commanders found good players throughout the draft.
