Few rookies had a better 2023 season than Seattle Seahawks defensive back Devon Witherspoon. The former Illinois corner finished his debut campaign with 16 passes defensed, an interception (which he returned for a touchdown), eight tackles for loss, three sacks, and four additional QB hits. He made the Pro Bowl and finished fourth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
By any reasonable measure, that's a really good rookie year. But Witherspoon is thinking bigger when it comes to Year 2 and beyond.
"It's exciting because I had a good year, but it could be a lot better," Witherspoon said, via ESPN. "That's what Coach [Mike Macdonald] keeps telling me every day. He's like, 'You had a good year, but you've got so much more potential, and I can't wait to exploit that.'"
Witherspoon's combination of size, strength, length and athleticism should allow him to be a versatile piece of Macdonald's defense in much the same way as Kyle Hamilton was over the past two seasons in Baltimore. Witherspoon played all over the place already last season, aligning in the slot for 421 snaps, out wide for 348, in the box for 91 and along the defensive line for 21, according to Pro Football Focus. It's that kind of thing that makes him such an interesting chess piece for Macdonald.
And Macdonald is already excited about the possibilities.
"I told him today that I couldn't believe that he was the smartest football player of all time and it's only his second year in the NFL," Macdonald joked in June, again via ESPN. "He's got an answer for everything. But no, it's like, 'Hey, man, be yourself.' That's who he is. We love him. He's a great player already in this league. We're really excited about him."
The Seahawks have a long way to go until they become a top-flight defense like Macdonald's Ravens were, but Witherspoon is the kind of foundational player you can build around. He's right that he can be even better, and we'll likely see him deliver on that very soon.
