It's tough coming up with good comps of former NFL players for Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon. For one thing, it's extremely rare for a rookie to hit the ground running in his first season the way that Witherspoon did in 2023. For his first several games Witherspoon was clearly the best player on the field. Another thing that sets Witherspoon's game apart is his physicality, which is very rare for his position.
Some folks, such as Troy Aikman have compared Spoon to Deion Sanders, which seems like just a little bit of a reach at this early point in his career. However, one Seattle legend found an excellent comp for him that also happens to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here's former Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu comparing Witherspoon to former Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber.
That's some very high praise from a guy who knows what he's talking about. After playing his college ball at Virginia, Barber only played one game as a rookie but he made an enormous impact right away in his second NFL season.
Barber went on to play 241 regular season games, totaling 47 interceptions, 197 pass breakups and over 1,000 solo tackles. He made five Pro Bowl teams and earned first-team All-Pro honors three times.
If Witherspoon goes on to have a career anything like that, the Seahawks and their fans should be more than thrilled. However, we have a feeling that Spoon is eventually going to be even better. Good as he was, Barber was never a Defensive Player of the Year candidate - which is something we expect to see from Spoon no later than next season.
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