Devon Witherspoon has corner stones

Film study on Seahawks' Devon Witherspoon highlights his immense value as a rookie and what's to come: Seaside Joe 1897

On Friday, I had to ask for forgiveness that the newsletter was the best I could do on my phone without Internet or time, but today I’ll ask you to forgive me for BURYING THE LEDE. For the past few months, there has been so much to write about the coaching changes, the draft, free agency, and even some long-term questions with certain veterans that it was perhaps too easy to overlook the Seahawks cornerback who could be developing into an All-Pro player next season.

And not only does Devon Witherspoon have the talent and commitment to become a great NFL player if he’s not already one, he’s topped off his ability to make incredible plays with signature celebration techniques that for me evoke Seattle memories of Griffey’s post-swing or Kemp’s post-dunk reactions. Just that instanteous, unmistakable “I win” moment.

So far, Winserspoon wins a lot.

I still do not really know what “A to Z Sports” is other than the fact that their videos pop up in my suggestions a lot but do not get a ton of views, but this breakdown of Devon Witherspoon reminded me to grab a shovel and exhume the lede: Witherspoon could be the sparkplug to a number one defense and a top-5 player at his position as soon as right now.

I’ll summarize some of the key points in this video, but definitely watch the entire clip for yourself.

Thoughts?

Devon Witherspoon’s strengths

A to Z notes that between PFF and SIS’s data, Witherspoon ranked fourth in Estimated Points Allowed per Target (-.38), top-10 in yards per target allowed (5.82), and was top-20 in seven other categories among the top-100 qualifying cornerbacks in 2023:

The only area that appears a “weakness” in this graphic is penalties, something that was known as an improvement opportunity for Witherspoon coming out of college, but A to Z watched every penalty and noted that for him many were ticky-tack. I definitely can see Witherspoon’s violent, attacking style as potentially confusing refs into thinking he committed an infraction, especially as a rookie earning his stripes in the NFL. That’s not an excuse for the refs, it’s just possibly the cause for the high rate of penalties and even then…if I removed only two penalties, his percentage would probably be above average. It’s a small sample size.

This top-5 list puts Witherspoon in a group with Sauce Gardner, L’Jarius Snead, and Jaylon Johnson as cornerbacks who were both playmakers and shutdown in 2023…surprisingly, Riq Woolen also made the list.

“He’s a high impact run defender, he’s an effective blitzer, he played over 50% of his snaps in the slot so he’s in the mold of a player like Brian Branch or Trent McDuffie where you just take your most talented defensive back and play him at nickel. He can affect the game at such a higher rate on the inside…”

Few cornerbacks in the NFL had the combination of pass and run defense of Witherspoon, putting him in this elite group with McDuffie, two safeties (including Mike Macdonald’s very own Kyle Hamilton), and linebacker Fred Warner.

“I think the most impressive thing is his spatial awareness and route recognition in zone coverage. He had a lot of underneath zone coverage responsibilities, he covered receivers one-on-one and he had to have a linebacker/safety type awareness in the middle of the field.”

This play against the 49ers was truly everything:

After I saw this play, I decided to have kids so that we could watch Devon Witherspoon together in 5, 10, 20, and even 50 years from now.

A to Z saw several missed interception opportunities on Witherspoon’s part. Some of the best cornerbacks in history, like Darrelle Revis and Jalen Ramsey, were not known for great hands or picking off a ton of passes every season. So a cornerback can be tops at his position without that stat necessarily, but it’s definitely too soon to say that Witherspoon can’t be one of the leaders in interceptions for one or two years in his career and excel there.

A quote that stuck with me before the draft last year came from Witherspoon’s college defensive coordinator Aaron Henry.

“Devon’s going to be a ten times better player in the pros than he was in college. Here’s why: Obviously the only distraction that Devon had was school. He went to class, he was a good school, he handled his business. But he’s all ball now. I think his game is going to elevate. He’s humble, he’s locked in, he’s been waiting for this moment his whole life.”

The clip is as long as the first clip I provided and has just as much insight into the type of player the Seahawks have in their secondary.

“First things I start with is he’s an absolute dawg; before, after, and during the snap. When Devon walks in the building, you know he’s in the building. He’s loud, boisterous, and he backs it up.”

This was a clip I originally shared last year when I predicted that the Seahawks would draft Witherspoon, so I think that article and my original deep dive into Witherpoon a couple of weeks before that are both good refreshers on the prospect he was then and why he’s the player he is now. I also wrote about Witherspoon at least once this offseason, noting that he could potentially be like a “Russell Westbrook” of the NFL by filling up the stat sheet in ways few corners ever have before.

Back to A to Z…

“There are a lot of corners that can just be assignment secure in zone coverage, but not many that have these kind of playmaking instincts.”

Against Mike Maconald’s ex last season, Witherspoon is able to switch from trailing Rashod Bateman to covering Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews and adjusting to make a near-interception in the sideline:

“Another thing that stands out is his closing burst and his skill playing the ball at the catch point. As far as breaking at the ball, Witherspoon has everything you look for.”

Something that will always stand out about Witherspoon is his size. He’s listed at 185 lbs, and sometimes players are actually playing below their official weight, which is about 15 lbs lighter than Revis’s playing weight and 25-30 lbs below Ramsey. So naturally, we are inclined to think that a player checking in at 6’, 181 (his combine weight) couldn’t have the same ceiling as someone like Ramsey.

However, a) many receivers are not as big as they once were (think of DeVonta Smith, who checks in at 6’, 170 lbs) and b) you wouldn’t know Witherspoon was undersized by how he plays and certainly not by how he hits.

“Based on the way he plays, I would have said 195. There’s hardly any element of his game where size is any sort of limitation for him. He’s already one of the better run defending corners in the NFL and as a nickel he is in the run fit more often, he had no issues playing off of blocks. One of the more physical tacklers of any defensive back in the NFL. Honestly, I just forget he’s 185 until I see his weight limited somewhere.”

A to Z also notes that he had 30 blitz opportunities and made the most of them. “He just never stops moving his feet and closing in on the quarterback.”

Improvement opportunities

“I didn’t see any other negative plays (besides the flea flicker against the Lions) as far as being too aggressive or biting on play action. That isn’t a major concern for me going forward. He needs to improve route recognition and getting clean breaks in off-man coverage.”

A to Z notes that his exposure may have been limited by not asking him to do a lot of deep man coverage. That may or may not be a negative and if it is, that probably wouldn’t lower his value for Macdonald’s defense. We know that from Kyle Hamilton’s impact in 2023 and the work he did in shallow coverage.

All due respect to Leonard Williams and anyone else on Seattle’s defense, but Devon Witherspoon should absolutely be the Seahawks most valuable defensive weapon in 2024 and in my opinion is trending towards having several elite seasons in the immediate future.

Before we wrap up Witherspoon, I’ll make a quick pitch to free subscribers…or scroll past this section to the conclusion.

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See you Spoon

If Byron Murphy II is the player the Seattle Seahawks are hoping that he is after focusing their entire first round on dreaming he’d fall to 16, then Mike Macdonald now has at least two young cornerstones worth keeping long-term and paying extensions when the time comes for that. That’s a ways in the future, but it just makes me think of how certain teams with recent successful drafts have been able to confidently reward their young players with new deals in a way that Seattle wasn’t able to in the last few years of Pete Carroll…Similar to the Lions building a legitimate top-5 offense with picks like Penei Sewell and Amon-Ra St. Brown or the Browns with Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward.

It seems like the Seahawks could split pre-2022 and 2022-now with their picks: Charles Cross, Abe Lucas, Kenneth Walker, Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen, Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Zach Charbonnet, Murphy…maybe Coby Bryant, Derick Hall, Christian Haynes, Anthony Bradford, and so on.

We can’t quite lump first round picks like Cross and JSN with the impact that Witherspoon had in their first year, and we’re not even close to being sure how good or bad of a pick Murphy was yet, but Seattle seems to be trending up instead of staying the course and hoping for better results “next year”. How do teams trend up? Almost always because they land elite players who make the job of his coach as easy as possible. You can see it in the way that Aaron Henry talked about Witherspoon’s four years at Illinois, a “dawg that led by example” and was determined to make his coaches look good by association. That’s exactly the type of player Macdonald is going to gravitate towards and put his defense around, someone who flexes for the entire team when he makes a play.

When Devon Witherspoon wins, we all win.