Despite making the Pro Bowl, this NFL player believes his rookie year could have been ‘a lot better’

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…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/despite-making-the-pro-bowl-this-nfl-player-believes-his-rookie-year-could-have-been-a-lot-better/

Author : Jared Dubin

Publish date : 2024-07-12 17:51:39

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