Scouting Report: CB Devon Witherspoon

The feisty cornerback out of Illinois remains a popular projection for the Detroit Lions in mock drafts. Is he a fit for Aaron Glenn's defense?

Background

The Illini's Thorpe Award semifinalist has been one of the fastest risers since the end of the 2022 season. He was an instrumental piece to now-Purdue head coach Ryan Walters' success running the Illinois defense this past fall.

The 22-year old cornerback started out as an unranked cornerback out of Pensacola, Florida. His main recruiter, Keynodo Hudson, then the cornerbacks coach under Lovie Smith, saw something in the unrated prospect, giving Witherspoon his sole Power 5 offer, as the only other suitors were South Alabama, Massachusetts, Appalachian State, Troy, and Temple.

However, Witherspoon quickly showed folks why the Illini were right to trust their evaluations over the rankings, as he quickly emerged as an impact player for Lovie Smith's defense, starting three games by the end of his freshman year and appearing in everyone.

He took over a full-time starting role in 2020, starting all seven match-ups that the Illini had in the COVID-shortened season, and even tallied his first career interception against Minnesota (4:01). However, Witherspoon didn't really start getting much recognition until 2021, when he again started the entire season, and this time was named All-Big Ten honorable mention for his efforts, which included nine pass break-ups in coverage.

Witherspoon took the next leap forward this past season for an Illinois defense that ended the season ranked 2nd nationally in scoring defense. He became Illinois' first consensus All-American, landing First-Team honors from just about every major outlet. We'll use some PFF numbers to highlight how good he was, as he led in the nation in reception percentage against (33.8), led the nation in forced incompletions (16), and was the no. 2 cornerback nationally on their grading system, which is often inconsistent, but can be helpful from time-to-time.

He also participated in this year’s Senior Bowl, where Detroit was able to evaluate him live and in-person, sending Lions asst. LB coach Shaun Dion Hamilton down to Mobile.

Witherspoon’s Strengths

Watch Witherspoon follow this crossing pattern with excellent recognition.

Shows elite recognition of route patterns and concepts as they're unfolding. This example above shows him masterfully maneuvering through traffic to stick with his man on a designed rub concept. Part of this is that he maintains excellent discipline with his eyes, and rarely is fooled by smaller tweaks ("window dressing") that teams try to use to even just briefly divert the eyes away from secondary players to gain advantage. Witherspoon is a very high IQ football player.

Witherspoon is the CB at the bottom of the screen in the starting frame.

Witherspoon is also most well known, at this point, for his physicality that he brings to the game. Often described as tenacious, Witherspoon tows a fine line at the cornerback position between playing aggressive and getting yourself in trouble with PI. He's got 11 over two years, which isn't great, but it certainly doesn't slow him up and make him hesitant. However, for someone tasked with playing press coverage, this is a very good trait to have.

I still can't decide if I think he's fast or not, there's clips pro- and anti- on both sides of the argument, but he's very light on his feet, and shows quality reactive athleticism. You can see that ability in the clip above as he redirects after contact.

Witherspoon also boasts something that very cornerbacks have in their repertoire, which is elite run defense and tackling. Both in terms of his ability to diagnose run schemes and trigger downhill with speed and violence, or simply the brute force he hits with, Witherspoon is a significant factor in stopping the run in a position that coordinators usually try and pick on guys at. His back pedal and technique remain very smooth. He plays with an easy pace, never hurried or feeling flustered. Confident and in-control is always his on-field demeanor.

He also has significant experience and usage on special teams. Has played on punt return, punt, kickoff, kickoff return, and field goal block throughout his time. Gives excellent effort there.

What Witherspoon Could Improve On

The biggest one here is the same as Joey Porter's biggest concern, which is that his aggressiveness leads to a lot of penalties. 11 of them over two years is not great by any means. This one in question more or less lost Illinois their upset bid over the #3 Michigan Wolverines, a very ill-timed penalty.

The other concern I would add is his deep speed. Witherspoon is certainly quick in short spaces, and I would certainly not call him slow. But several times on film, Witherspoon has struggled to keep up on deeper routes and trailing on crossing routes more than you would like. His Combine injury is quite unfortunate there as we do not now even get a 40-yard dash measurement to either confirm he’s not terribly fast, or even see if that may not be as much a concern.

Can play a bit out of control at times, affecting his tackling ability. Sometimes he's a bit too aggressive, and that includes his run fits as well as in coverage.

He is a very good tackler coming downhill, but he can struggle to navigate angles from pursuit to make tackles. Meaning when guys break past the defensive line inside, he sort of is inconsistent on finding the right angle to chase down the guy.

Quotes

A testament to his growth, dedication, and team-first attitude from The Draft Network's report on Witherspoon:

Originally committed to Hutchinson Community College in Kansas, Witherspoon experienced a late flurry of offers ahead of the start of his freshman year after he elevated his grades and avoided being academically ineligible. He ultimately settled on signing with the Illini, joining the team his freshman year after missing the start of summer camp. He went on to become the only member of Illinois’ 2019 recruiting class to start a game as a freshman and led the team in special teams tackles that season. By 2020, he was a starter at corner and he hasn’t looked back—making him a three-year starter at a premier NFL position with special teams success also lingering on his resume; a healthy mix. 

Some quotes from his position coach, Aaron Henry, now defensive coordinator in Illinois, replacing Ryan Walters:

“He understands what route combinations are occurring. He understands wide receiver splits. The young man is brilliantly intelligent. He’s very, very, very smart. He can tell you what formations, what routes they like, and when they like to run them. He’s that intelligent.

“He’s probably one of the smarter guys I’ve had back there, especially at the corner position. He’s so wise. He understands the game. … He expects to make plays. He expects to have good games because that’s the way he practices.”

I always love trying to find an interview with the player in question. Here's a postgame interview from Witherspoon, following Illinois' win over Northwestern.

How He Fits in Detroit?

This section may end up being a bit controversial, but as mentioned, there are two facets when discussing “fit” that need to be mentioned. One is positional alignment, where would Detroit use him, where does he line up? The second is the sort of mold that the Lions’ decision-makers tend to target. Looking through some of the cornerbacks that Brad Holmes helped draft in Los Angeles, and Ray Agnew helped sign and trade for, those two tended to prioritize guys who excel in man coverage, specifically press man coverage, and also are excellent tacklers, both in terms of form and power.

Other key characteristics include trusting their eyes and footwork, having quick reaction speed and being willing to take some risks to play the ball in the air. Witherspoon checks just about every single box of what Holmes has targeted historically. The only slight different is that the average height for outside cornerbacks Holmes helped add previously is 6’2, whereas Witherspoon measures in at just 5’11. However, the Lions just signed CB Cameron Sutton, who is nearly identical in size (5’11, about 185 pounds), so that should ease concerns there.

Here is my concern on Witherspoon however. He’s elite in run defense, he’s feisty in coverage, but he’s short and I am not sure he has the deep speed you would prefer on the outside. In a lot of ways, I think Witherspoon actually projects quite a bit better at slot cornerback long-term, rather than outside cornerback. Sutton is actually a pretty similar example of that, as he started out his career largely as a slot, but overtime took on more and more outside cornerback duties. With Witherspoon being more or less the same player, that could create a bit more overlap than would be preferable.

This isn’t to say the Lions shouldn’t take Witherspoon. For example, watch the clip above and tell you don’t think this dude is going to be a stud at slot cornerback. He remains a terrific player, and even if he does end up there, that is a very valuable position these days given how much spread we see, along with the fact that Witherspoon still can be an outside cornerback in certain match-ups. This is more just to point out that Detroit may now feel a bit more intrigued with taking a true outside CB1 type in Christian Gonzalez than they would adding another carbon copy of Cameron Sutton to the fold.

And with the rumors, from Kyle Meinke and others, swirling that Detroit may be intrigued with defensive line options at sixth overall, I think I would probably consider Witherspoon’s stock a bit more down there, but a lot higher for eighteenth overall if he slides that way. And with Maryland CB Deonte Banks rising up boards quickly, it would not surprise me if a team opted to snag Banks ahead of Witherspoon, helping push Witherspoon to Detroit at #18 overall, which, paired with a defensive lineman like Jalen Carter or Will Anderson at #6, would be a dream come true for many.

To be clear, I would take Witherspoon in a heartbeat. He matches everything the Lions want in a cornerback, aside from size, and really the only significant knock is that he’s not a sure bet to stick as an outside CB. However, his ability to play slot establishes him with a very high floor, making him a very safe pick ultimately. This is only to say that I would love Witherspoon, but I think Christian Gonzalez is the superior option at #6 overall, and I think the Lions would probably prefer him at #18 overall themselves.