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5 Numbers Of Note About Devon Witherspoon's Impressive Rookie Season

Five numbers that help explain why Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon is a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.

Feb 07, 2024 at 11:08 AM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

Numbers of Note, presented by Intuit QuickBooks, takes a look at five key numbers that help tell the story of every Seahawks game. QuickBooks celebrates small businesses that define their own path to success by doing Business Differently. Now, all small businesses can make their money work as hard as they do by getting a business bank account with QuickBooks Money that earns 5.00% APY. Learn more at quickbooks.com/5apy.

Seahawks rookie cornerback was named one of five finalists for the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award, making him the third Seahawks rookie in the past two seasons, along with Riq Woolen and Kenneth Walker III, to be a finalist for Rookie of the Year honors in the past two years.

Witherspoon is one of five finalists for the award along with Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr., Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter, Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and Rams defensive tackle Kobie Turner. The winner will be revealed Thursday evening during NFL Honors, but regardless of how the vote turns out, Witherspoon put together a worthy case for the award. Here are five numbers of note that show why Witherspoon is deserving of Rookie of the Year honors:

1

Rookie named to the initial Pro Bowl roster on defense, Witherspoon, with Anderson later being added as an injury replacement.

16

Passes defensed for Witherspoon, the most on the team and the fifth most in the NFL this season.

8

Tackles for loss, including 3.0 sacks, making Witherspoon the only rookie since 1999 when passes defensed became a statistic to achieve that total of passes defensed, sacks and tackles for loss, and only the seventh player overall.

2

Positions played by Witherspoon throughout the season, with him splitting time between left cornerback and nickel corner, a dual role he handled well enough to earn an 84.1 grade from Pro Football Focus, the highest grade of any Seahawks player, as well as the highest-graded rookie defender who played at least 600 snaps.

883

Defensive snaps played by Devon Witherspoon, the most of any of the five players up for Defensive Player of the Year honors. That's a relevant number because some have used the three games missed by Witherspoon to discredit is DROY case, even though he played 76 more snaps than Porter, and significantly more than Tuner (697), Anderson (630) and Carter (563).

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