What selecting Devon Witherspoon means for the Seattle Seahawks
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon was one of the biggest surprises of Thursday’s NFL Draft, for good reason.
The Seattle Seahawks elected to not fill the team's biggest need earlier in the NFL Draft Thursday night, opting to draft cornerback Devon Witherspoon out of Illinois to join five other cornerbacks on the roster.
Most surprising about the pick, however, was that just a week prior Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said that he felt confident in his secondary, specifically, his cornerback.
Still, the organization saw potential in Witherspoon, so what does it all mean? Simple: a team can never have too many good cornerbacks.
What is most concerning about Witherspoon is his measurables. At 5-foot-11, 181 pounds, he is a threat to be overpowered at the NFL level. But his talent is still undeniable.
Pro Football Focus wrote of Witherspoon: "Witherspoon had one of the best seasons we’ve ever graded from a college cornerback. He was targeted 63 times in 2022 and allowed only 22 catches for 206 yards with three picks and 14 pass breakups. That comes out to 3.3 yards per target. He’s one of the feistiest cornerbacks in the class.”
Cornerback isn't directly a position of need, Seattle did show interest in the cornerback spot by having had Witherspoon in for an official top-30 visit earlier this month.
Though Carroll felt confident in Tariq Woolen, Michael Jackson, Coby Bryant, Tre Brown, and Isaiah Dunn. But Witherspoon now becomes the sixth cornerback in an already talented group.
Woolen (right side), Jackson (left), and Bryant (nickel) all started last season and return on relatively cheap deals, making the selection of Witherspoon even more interesting.
Was there something Seattle saw during that top-30 visit that no one knew about? Possibly.
It was originally thought that Seattle would look toward Jalen Carter, but that didn't happen.
Now Witherspoon will receive a four-year deal with a total value of $33.3 million and a signing bonus of $21.2 million — bucking the trend of cheap cornerbacks on the Seahawks roster.
PFF wrote further of him: “Witherspoon may not have an elite physical skill set for the position, but his senior-year tape was as good as we’ve seen in our nine years of college grading.”
On the surface, Witherspoon's arrival in Seattle indicates that there was more the Seahawks wanted at the cornerback position. And with the added help in the secondary, Seattle is free to find the pass rusher it is desperately searching for.
