Benjamin St-Juste is a matchup nightmare on the Commanders’ defense

There are a few things that NFL rookies typically learn quickly. One is that the fastest way to a roster spot is often through special teams. Another is that those who take care of their bodies usually last longer. And a third: Those who don’t study will get left behind, if not embarrassed first.

Washington Commanders third-year cornerback Benjamin St-Juste has checked off all three lessons, taking especially the last two to heart in recent years. He spent part of the offseason at Kula Sports Performance in Colorado to recover from the nicks and bruises he suffered last season, and he worked with the team’s strength and conditioning staff to refine his offseason workouts. He also has spent hours poring over game tape to analyze his own technique as well as those of teammates and other cornerbacks across the league.

“I realized when I came into this league that being the fastest, the strongest doesn’t bring you so far,” St-Juste said. “Understanding where you need to be, understanding where other players are around you, how they’re going to play, where they’re going to be when the ball’s thrown — you can utilize that. All the smartest players that you see in the NFL that have been playing for 10-plus years on defense, they’re generals out there. They understand everything. They can play multiple positions.”

St-Juste, a third-round draft pick in 2021, is now a veteran in a secondary deep with versatile players. They move around and move often, with many playing at least two spots, if not three or more.

Last year, after losing much of his rookie season to concussions, St-Juste started three games in the slot before shifting outside to cornerback full time when William Jackson III was injured and later traded. And so far at training camp, St-Juste primarily has played nickelback but still essentially serves as the team’s top backup cornerback; when rookie Emmanuel Forbes or Kendall Fuller is out, St-Juste typically moves outside.

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The slot cornerback is a starter in Washington’s defense; its base scheme features five defensive backs. Most NFL teams play the majority of their defensive snaps with five DBs to counter the passing game, so having at least a few players who can handle multiple positions is becoming the norm.

“Our room is pretty blessed,” Commanders defensive backs coach Brent Vieselmeyer said. “You’re going to have guys go down, so you got to have some position flexibility in there. I just haven’t been around a group where we’ve had this much.”

St-Juste’s physical traits give Washington another advantage. At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, the 25-year-old is close to the size of some linebackers and has a long wingspan (78.6 inches). He also registered the second-fastest time in the three-cone drill (6.63 seconds) among all prospects at the NFL combine in 2021.

“So you can take maybe a bigger receiver that is super physical [and St-Juste] could match up on him, and he can play him whether the guy was inside or out,” Vieselmeyer said. “That makes matchups easier in the defensive backfield.”

Matchups such as A.J. Brown, Philadelphia’s 6-1, 226-pound wide receiver — St-Juste had a key deflection in coverage against him on third and 13 in Week 3 last season. Or Minnesota star Justin Jefferson — against whom St-Juste held his own last season. Jefferson scored on a short corner route against St-Juste in the first quarter of a Week 9 game and later had a big gain on a slot fade route, but St-Juste broke up two passes intended for him in the end zone.

Matchups such as Dallas’s Brandin Cooks are also a fit. The former Houston wide receiver, who ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the combine, was the target of a deep pass that St-Juste deflected — and Darrick Forrest intercepted — in Week 11 last year. That play left St-Juste with an ankle injury that cut his season short. But when he returned for camp this summer, he played with confidence that reflected a greater understanding of his role.

“I don’t have to strain as much like I did my first two years, trying to make up some ground because I didn’t know where to be or what the concept is going to be,” he said. “Now that I know and I’ve been playing two positions, I kind of know where I need to be so I don’t have to run and try to make up for some plays because I’m late.”

St-Juste credits much of his growth to film study. In the offseason, he went through tape of every Commanders spring practice and watched each game from the past two seasons, reviewing his snaps at cornerback and then at nickelback. He also watched video of other cornerbacks he admires — Sauce Gardner of the New York Jets, Jaire Alexander of Green Bay and Marshon Lattimore of New Orleans among them — to “steal a few of their tricks,” he said.

For Commanders’ defense, confidence is great. Maturity is even better.

For roughly 30 to 45 minutes per day at home or at the team facility, St-Juste was glued to his iPad. Then he used practice as his personal lab, testing out new skills to see what worked, what didn’t and what needed refinement.

“He would come early every day last year and bring his breakfast in and start firing questions away to me,” Vieselmeyer said. “I think the game has slowed down for Ben — from experience, from learning. His preparation was phenomenal. Even when he was banged up [last year], he spent time preparing, so I think that made a huge difference.”

St-Juste’s studies included his own mistakes. He looked at how officials judged his technique. Last season, he was flagged five times for interference, holding and illegal use of hands or illegal contact.

“That’s a tough job as a ref, seeing two guys compete for the ball at such a fast level, and it’s bang-bang,” Vieselmeyer said. “So you try to maximize what they look at, how I can play my technique better. And [St-Juste has] done a good job with his hands.”

In practice, St-Juste has played cleanly. But transferring it to the Commanders’ games is the next hurdle.

In the preseason opener at Cleveland, he and the Commanders’ starting defense played one drive and kept the Browns at bay with a goal-line stop — after giving up 67 yards. Wide receiver Elijah Moore collected 18 after St-Juste slipped and missed a tackle. The sample size was small, and St-Juste played all over — seven snaps in the slot, three outside and two in the box.

He missed a couple of practices this past week after tweaking his ankle, but he returned for Wednesday’s joint workout with the Baltimore Ravens and seemed to find his rhythm. In the slot during team drills, he broke up a pass intended for Nelson Agholor during seven-on-seven play and another targeting Devin Duvernay during 11-on-11 drills.

“Sometimes guys going into the slot, they’re not as willing,” Coach Ron Rivera said. “They play a little more tight, a little more hesitant, a little more safe. And with Benjamin, man, you see the confidence with which he plays. And it’s not where he is just taking a shot or anything — it’s just that he’s really in line, in tune with the techniques and the guys that he’s working with around him.”