Devon Witherspoon

Pos: CB

School: Illinois

Ht. 5’11″ 

Wt. 185

Games Watched: Wisconsin, Virginia, Minnesota

One Liner: Aggressive cornerback who wins with football IQ, motor and ball skills

Strengths: 

  • Elite motor. Witherspoon is a proactive and fierce competitor in all facets of the game. He has the aggression and high intensity coaches love to see out of their corners, and he is a willing and high level run defender who flies into pursuit in an attempt to contribute and make a play.
  • Very good football IQ.Witherspoon plays with great route anticipation and shows high level zone discipline maintaining good eye connection with the QB and quick lateral movements. Witherspoon can run routes for the receiver, and has a high understanding of where receivers may be based off formation and alignment. 
  • Very good ball skills. Witherspoon has the ability to jump out of his 5’11” frame and compete at the catch point against 50/50 throws, forcing 3 interceptions and 14 passes defended in 2022. Witherspoon has the aggressiveness and sufficient athleticism to go up and extend his catch radius to make a play on the ball.
  • Very good strength. Witherspoon plays extremely strong and competitive with sharp punches at the release point during press. Though 181 pounds, he plays with good intensity and power to keep himself in plays against bigger bodied receivers.

Weaknesses:

  • Marginal hip timing/fluidity. Witherspoon’s primary weakness is a lack of, and premature, hip movements and technique in terms of timing. Sometimes he opens his hips too soon, and sometimes he opens them too late, both cases would result in him getting beat deep downfield at the next level. Early openings in his hips are sometimes due to Witherspoon overcommitting early in the progression of the route. There is also slight hesitation during his transitions right after his cross step that causes him to be a tick behind on some deep balls when he is in off man. 
  • Adequate long speed. While I think Witherspoon is faster than people give him credit for, he is not a burner and his speed is just sufficient, but not an elite trait of his. His hip issues caused him to look slower than he actually is (4.46 speed at 185). 
  • Adequate frame. Witherspoon plays with a smaller frame and has 31 inch arms, a little small for a boundary corner at the next level. However, he does limit the impact his frame plays on his game through his aggressiveness and motor. 

Overall Assessment: Devon Witherspoon is an intense and active player at each level of the field. His motor and effort to contribute in the run game and combat receivers with heavy punches in press stands out as plays that speak to his aggressiveness and willingness to compete. Witherspoon covers up any questions about his frame with his motor on the field, and combines this with really good football IQ and ball skills to piece together some high upside tape. Considering Witherspoon is still developing, his upside is extremely appealing at the next level. With some technical fixes, I could see Witherspoon becoming an elite corner in the pros. 

Scheme Fit: Best suited as zone coverage corner until he corrects his hip timing and capitilizes on his fluid athletic ability, has the potential to be a good press corner. 

Pick Projection: Top 15

Grade: 6.66