Seahawks got the dominant CB duo they expected to have
Seahawks got the dominant CB duo they expected to have
Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen score high on Close Your Eyes, but other corners do not: 9/12/2024
When the Seattle Seahawks drafted Devon Witherspoon fifth overall in 2023, I wrote something at the time about how specific of a target the cornerback position was in the NFC. Because really no other highly-drafted cornerbacks of late were going to the NFC and those that did were not very good.
Sauce Gardner, AFC. Derek Stingley, AFC. Christian Gonzalez, AFC. Trent McDuffie, AFC. Patrick Surtain, AFC.
Any examples going the other way, like Jaycee Horn to the Panthers in 2021 (ahead of Surtain) didn’t work out as planned; Horn has missed over half of his possible career games due to injury.
But then going into the 2023 draft, a lot of others (but not Seaside Joe) said that the Seahawks couldn’t draft a corner top-5 because hey, “They already have Riq Woolen!”
Well yeah, that’s also kind of the point: Few teams in the NFC even had one good CB1, what if the Seahawks became the ONLY team in the NFC with an elite CB1/CB2?
Going into the 2024 season, no other team in the NFC can come close to matching who Seattle has at the cornerback position…and few have even tried. Last season’s NFC Pro Bowl corners were Spoon, DaRon Bland, Jaylon Johnson, Charvarius Ward, and Darius Slay. I wouldn’t be surprised if Witherspoon is soon considered the best CB in the NFC overall and that Riq Woolen is in the top-5, putting both in the Pro Bowl, if not the All-Pro lists.
Too far? People (non-Seahawks fans) are already talking about them as if they are the best duo in the league and there will be a rooting interest for that to continue all year long.
Continuing the Close Your Eyes tests, we move to the cornerbacks.
Part I: Running backs
Part II: Wide receivers
Part III: Defensive Bigs
Part IV: Linebackers
Part V: Tight Ends
Part VI: Interior Offensive Bigs
Part VII: Safeties
Part VIII: Offensive Tackles
There are only a couple of more positions to get to after this one. Become a subscriber to not miss any scores!
CB Devon Witherspoon
History: 4/5
Health: 4.5/5
Athleticism: 5/5
Consistency: 4/5
Supply and Demand: 4/5
Versatility: 4/5
If Witherspoon were two inches taller, he’d be regarded as highly as Sauce Gardner. That isn’t to say Witherspoon gets no respect, it’s just that slight difference that plays a factor in why Gardner was a Defensive Rookie of the Year and two-time first-team All-Pro through two seasons, while Witherspoon is viewed as a player who is great but not as the “next all-time shutdown outside corner”. Well fine, he’s not that, he’s Devon Witherspoon and that could end up being better than Sauce Gardner.
I don’t have much to knock Witherspoon for and all these scores will go up if he continues to play as he has through 15 career games. Witherspoon has a total of 25.5 points.
Devon Witherspoon 4.3/5
Greatest strengths: Tenacity, Violence, Speed, Plays Bigger and Faster than can be measured by human-designed tests
Greatest weaknesses: Long-term durability concerns based on play style perhaps
Intuition
I expect more sacks, more forced fumbles, more tackles for a loss, and more interceptions than Witherspoon had in his rookie season. He blitzed 26 times as a rookie and had one QB hurry and three sacks; he blitzed three times in Week 1 and already has one QB hurry. First-team All-Pro season incoming.
CB Riq Woolen
History: 3.5/5
Health: 5/5
Athleticism: 5/5
Consistency: 2.5/5
Supply and Demand: 3.5/5
Versatility: 3/5
Woolen himself said that he essentially faced the bench in 2023, so to come back so soon this year and be on the cusp of a 4/5 player, that’s a testament to how rare it is to find athletes who are able to adjust to their weaknesses in such a short amount of time. Woolen is only going into his fourth or fifth year as a cornerback and the former receiver is off to a fast start with an interception in Week 1. If he gets his consistency up, the rest of the numbers will follow. Total: 22.5 points.
Riq Woolen: 3.8/5
Greatest strengths: Athleticism, route recognition and being able to use his experience as a wide receiver against opposing QBs
Greatest weaknesses: Bad tackling, at times disappointing effort as a run defender, and maybe not always taking accountability for the holes he has in his game
Intuition
As a draft pick, Woolen would have scored under a 2.5 going into his rookie season. Then after his rookie season, maybe he would have been 4+. For Woolen to settle in around a 3.8 going into year three, it’s not disappointing because he’s still made so many strides since playing at UTSA a few years ago and he has the potential to be a 4-4.5 valued player by 2025. I’m expecting better numbers across the board in pass defense, but can only remain hopeful that the tackling and run defense get a better effort moving forward.