Devon Witherspoon elected to second straight Pro Bowl

Make it two in a row for  Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon. The second-year cornerback was named to a second consecutive Pro Bowl Thursday. Five other Seahawks were named as alternates: outside linebacker Boye Mafe,  wider receiver  Jaxon Smith-Njigba, punter  Michael Dickson, and safety  Julian Love.

 A second straight selection is a testament to Witherspoon’s commitment to continual improvement.  His first year in the NFL had a rocky start due to a hamstring injury that saw him miss two games. Despite the injury, Witherspoon finished the season fourth in the  Defensive Rookie of the Year Voting,  recorded 79 tackles,  3.0 sacks,  16 passes defended, and had a  97-yard pick six that earned him  Defensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Month. For Witherspoon, one of his primary goals in 2024 was to improve and play every game.

 “ It means a lot to me that  I got through the whole season. I played well. So, like I said, that’s one thing I wanted to achieve this year and I did, so congrats to myself for that, so I’ll just continue to do it.”

HUMBLE AND FULL OF ENERGY

Witherspoon’s game is built on being physical, attacking the ball, and communicating with teammates. During almost every play, you can see Witherspoon communicating with teammates in the pre-and post-snap. His head coach, Mike Macdonald, has talked about  Witherspoon being a force multiplier. The term has a military origin.

 “A force  factor or combination of factors that increases the effectiveness of a military group without increasing its firepower.”

 With the Seahawks, Witherspoon increased the effectiveness of the Seahawk’s defense. For all his talk, Witherspoon is very humble when it comes to talking about himself.

“ I don’t know. I have to go back and re-watch the films to study myself, but I think it made a jump as far as bringing the team, the defense together, and us playing as one, so we all played better together, so I think that’s my biggest jump from last year said Witherspoon when asked what was  his biggest improvement from  last year to this year.”

RELATIONSHIP WITH MIKE MACDONALD

 It is quite a feat to have two consecutive Pro Bowl selections under two different head coaches. When a coaching change is made, the new coach implements his style of defense and often diverts the focus from a particular players strengths. That was not the case for Witherspoon under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald.

“We got to know each other better and better, and now it’s like our relationship is tight now. We just joke around with each other more because I understand what he’s trying to do and how he’s trying to do it, and then it’s easy for me to play my part in that, so our relationship is great.”

Said Witherspoon when asked about his relationship with Macdonald. Knowing how McDonald’s wants to attack a particular offense,  Witherspoon says the defense can play faster.

“Yeah, because you already know what’s going on, situational football, where we are on the field, stuff like that. Like, okay, you’re going to call this play in this area of the field. We already know ahead of time, so by the time we get out there, all right, we know the adjustments we’re going to make if they motion or if not. We’re already ahead of the game. “

With one game left in the 2024 season, Witherspoon has recorded 90 tackles, 60 of which were solo, one quarterback hit, one sack, and seven quarterback hits . While his stat line is above average, Witherspoon was elected to his second Pro Bowl because he is considered a game-changer when he is on the field.

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