Devon Witherspoon didn't play football until he was sixteen years old. He was a zero-star recruit with only one Power Five offer from Illinois. Four NFL teams passed on him in the 2023 NFL Draft before the Seattle Seahawks selected him fifth overall. Three years later, he's a Super Bowl champion, a three-time Pro Bowler, a Second-Team All-Pro, and the number one rated cornerback in the entire NFL according to Pro Football Focus. This is the story of how the NFL completely missed on a generational talent, and why the league has a Devon Witherspoon problem.
Born to single mother Rasheda Bickley in Pensacola, Florida, Devon Witherspoon didn't start playing football until his junior year of high school. While most NFL players begin at age six or seven, Devon focused on basketball until age sixteen. Despite his late start, he dominated at Pine Forest High School, but every major recruiting website gave him zero stars. His high school coach told recruiters he was better than his three-star teammate, but nobody listened. Illinois was his only Power Five offer, and it came the summer after his senior year when he had already enrolled at a junior college.
At Illinois, Devon Witherspoon became a consensus All-American in twenty twenty-two, a Jim Thorpe Award finalist as one of the top three cornerbacks in college football, and the highest-drafted defensive back in Illinois history. But even then, four NFL teams passed on him: the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Arizona Cardinals, and Indianapolis Colts all went in different directions. The Seattle Seahawks took him fifth overall, and from day one, he proved those four teams wrong.
Devon Witherspoon was a Pro Bowl selection in his rookie season (twenty twenty-three), a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year, and the new anchor of the Seahawks defense. His second season brought another Pro Bowl selection. And in his third season (twenty twenty-five), he became a Second-Team All-Pro, the number one rated cornerback in the NFL by Pro Football Focus with a ninety point eight overall grade, and a Super Bowl sixty champion after helping the Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots.
The NFL has a Devon Witherspoon problem because he is proof that the league's entire evaluation system is broken. From zero-star recruit to Super Bowl champion in just six years, Devon's story is a reminder that talent can be found anywhere, that development is not always linear, and that the chip on a player's shoulder can be the most powerful weapon of all. He is the walking, talking indictment of NFL scouting, and the biggest stars are not always the ones who shine the brightest from the start. Sometimes, they are the ones who were forged in the dark, who had to fight for every inch, and who, when they finally get their chance, are ready to take over the world.
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