Cornerback Benjamin St-Juste was a popular choice as one of Washington’s breakout players for 2022 last summer. The 6-foot-3 St-Juste delivered, looking more confident and competent each week. His battle against Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson last season showed just how far St-Juste had come.
Jefferson had a terrific game, but he always has terrific games. St-Juste made Jefferson earn every catch and was in his face throughout the game. Unfortunately, St-Juste was injured two weeks later and would miss five of Washington’s final six games.
It was a disappointing ending to a once-promising season for the then-second-year cornerback.
So this offseason, St-Juste was hard at work building off his 2022 season.
What did he do to get better?
Film work. Lots of film work.
“I went through every single OTA practice that we did every day,” St-Juste said. “I watched every game from 2021 and every game from 2022. I started with all my corner reps, and then I went through all the nickel reps, and then I started looking at some of the players around the league that I look up to, trying to see how different they play their technique.”
St-Juste came to Washington as an outside cornerback, but he worked in the slot last offseason. He played some in the slot before moving back outside before the injury ended his season.
St-Juste then explained what he did after watching film.
“Obviously, we don’t know their whole scheme and all that stuff, but I can still pull up their film and see how they play certain things,” he said of watching other cornerbacks.
“So every day I used to just go in my room or go up there in the facility and watch a little bit of film for about 30, 45 minutes, just see what they do. I’d try it, and at practice, it’s the time to try it, see what works, what doesn’t work. So then, when you get in the game, it’s easy. You can just execute.”
Who are some of those cornerbacks?
“Some of the top DBs, like [Packers CB] Jaire Alexander, [Saints CB] Marshon Lattimore, [Jets CB] Sauce [Gardner], stuff like that. Trying to see what made them so good last year so maybe I can steal a few of their tricks.”
That’s not a bad strategy.
St-Juste is having an outstanding training camp. He’s going up against Washington’s talented wide receivers and more than holding his own. With a fully healthy defensive line in 2023, the sky is the limit for St-Juste and Washington’s young secondary. The better the pass rush, the less St-Juste and others need to cover, opening the door for some potential takeaways.