After all that hand-wringing about Jalen Carter, it turns out the Seahawks did get the best defensive player in the 2023 NFL draft after all.
According to Pro Football Focus, Seattle’s rising star rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon is their Defensive Rookie of the Year. For the season they graded him out well in coverage, run defense and pass rushing:
Devon Witherspoon: PFF's 2023 Defensive Rookie of the Year 🏆 pic.twitter.com/2tSVyPQ3KI
— PFF (@PFF) January 11, 2024
As for the traditional numbers, Spoon finished the 2023 season with three sacks, 16 pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and eight tackles for a loss.
Going forward, Witherspoon will need to work in his tackling – he missed 12 attempts this season (13.2%). Spoon is also still relatively raw in coverage for this level, but he still only allowed a 58.3% completion rate and an 87.9 passer rating. With time he should only get better and may be a future Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
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