Washington Rookie CB St-Juste: 'Student Of The Game'

Rookie cornerback Benjamin St. Juste has been a standout on the field ever since he joined the Washington Football Team. The third-round pick has been consistently deflecting balls at practice against receivers such as Terry McLaurin, Dyami Brown and Adam Humphries. His success has even earned him first-team reps.

For St. Juste, his success doesn’t just come down to being the more physical or faster player on the field, but the more intelligent.

“Really, being a student of the game,” St-Juste said. “For me, being a rookie is really taking it day-by-day, making sure I put in a little extra work in a playbook.”

The former Minnesota cornerback had 11 passes deflected in his three seasons as a Gopher. As of now he has a “pretty solid” grasp of Washington’s playbook and by his side he has the help of two of the arguably best corners in the NFL, William Jackson III and Super Bowl champion Kendall Fuller.

Head coach Ron Rivera thinks the 6-3, 200-pound St-Juste has the potential to be like a former All-Pro known as "Peanut.''

“Watching him, he’s built like (former Bears star Charles Tillman), he’s got that mentality,” Rivera said. “He’s done a really good job showing us that he plays the whole play.”

Rivera sees how much work the rookie corner puts in his game and how he’s a student at his core. The 10-year NFL head coach notices that St-Juste looks for help from his teammates. Rivera has always preached the idea of asking questions instead of guessing on the field.

“He has tremendous vision and understands how to play with vision,” Rivera said. “He can look through the receiver to the QB with one eye on the QB and still know where the receiver is, which allows him to have a great anticipation, jump and make plays.”

While St-Juste does look to translate his success to regular-season games, the rookie corner is already on to a great start and only looks to get better - and to do so while being a "student.''