Witherspoon is organic fit for Seahawks culture
Mike Florio and Chris Simms analyze the Seahawks’ move to add Devon Witherspoon, who will be perfect for Pete Carroll, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who will complement DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Video Transcript
MIKE FLORIO: Seattle Seahawks had two picks in round one, courtesy of the Russell Wilson trade. With that pick--
CHRIS SIMMS: Man.
MIKE FLORIO: --for the Denver Broncos, they went with your guy--
CHRIS SIMMS: My man.
MIKE FLORIO: --the top corner, maybe the guy-- and you know what? You know what? Maybe that's why the Lions bailed for as little as they got to drop from six to 12. Maybe they thought--
CHRIS SIMMS: 'Cause they thought they were taking him.
MIKE FLORIO: --Witherspoon was gonna be there for them--
CHRIS SIMMS: Right.
MIKE FLORIO: --at six, and they got a curveball thrown right at their noggins when the Seattle Seahawks went with Devin Witherspoon at number five. I know he said after the draft it was shocking to him--
CHRIS SIMMS: Right.
MIKE FLORIO: --to get the call then and there.
CHRIS SIMMS: Right.
MIKE FLORIO: But Pete Carroll explained this last night. This is the most physical player in the draft. He reminds them of Troy Polamalu, which is high praise for a guy who's never played in the NFL. But throwing your body around-- it's Jamal Adams as well. You throw your body around to the point where you have no regard for your body, and your body gets broken. That's gonna be the concern for Devin Witherspoon because he's not a big guy.
CHRIS SIMMS: Yeah.
MIKE FLORIO: But he'll stick his nose in there he'll go tackle whoever big-- however big the guy may be. But that's who the Seahawks get at number five. And I know you love that pick.
CHRIS SIMMS: Oh, I love it. And, you know, again, to the point that I made earlier in the show, this is where I think the draft was crazy this year. Here's a guy that, you know, he knew he was going in the top six or seven.
He had no idea he was going to the Seattle Seahawks. I don't know anybody in the world that had linked him to them. So to your point with the Lions, I bet you that was a huge shock. I mean, if it's a shock to Devin Witherspoon, you know it's a shock to the team that was picking after.
But, I mean, my man-crush right here going to the place where they like psychos in a good way, and now he's in the psycho capital of the NFL with Pete Carroll and company, the place that brought us Earl Thomas and Michael Bennett and Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman, some of the coolest psychos we've ever seen in the history of football? Yeah, I'm mad that I didn't throw it out there earlier. I am.
I thought they were OK at corner. So I didn't think it was, like, a huge need, right? Michael Jackson, Tariq Woolen over there. But, wow, you couple him with Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, and you start to just go, whoa.
I mean, they got some versatility, some talent. He's an island corner who is a kamikaze like Troy Polamalu. That's where it's awesome. And, I mean, you just saw the highlights last night, right? Was there a better highlight package to watch than Devin Witherspoon when he got drafted?
I mean, it was one of those where I was literally like, hey, guys, watch. This is gonna be amazing. Watch this. And he never disappoints.
MIKE FLORIO: And so I wonder if they would have gone Anthony Richardson if he was there--
CHRIS SIMMS: Mm. That's a good-- I know.
MIKE FLORIO: --at five, but they get a guy who-- and practice is gonna be old-school in Seattle--
CHRIS SIMMS: Oh, my gosh.
MIKE FLORIO: --when you have him out there.
CHRIS SIMMS: Right.
MIKE FLORIO: Right? Him and Tariq Woltman and Jamal Adams when he's healthy--
CHRIS SIMMS: And Diggs, yeah.
MIKE FLORIO: --and Quandre Diggs, and now with pick number 20--
CHRIS SIMMS: Ooh.
MIKE FLORIO: --they took your number one corner. They could have had your number one receiver. But they didn't go Zay Flowers. They went Jackson Smith-Njigba, the ultimate complement to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett--
CHRIS SIMMS: Yes.
MIKE FLORIO: --on the outside.
CHRIS SIMMS: Right.
MIKE FLORIO: You put Smith-Njigba on the inside, Geno Smith--
CHRIS SIMMS: Uh-huh.
MIKE FLORIO: --some great weapons for him--
CHRIS SIMMS: Oh, baby.
MIKE FLORIO: --to earn that contract that he got this year.
CHRIS SIMMS: I love what they did, you know? First off, like, I mean, Geno was great last year. That was a positive of their team. Their offense was great. It carried the team.
Why not build on that momentum? And, you know, like we talked about a lot in the process, yeah, Anthony Richardson's, you know, a bright shiny object, and so are some of these other quarterbacks. But, you know, you got one right now. You got holes on your football team, and you just got out of the quarterback, like, conversation with Russell Wilson and all that drama.
But, Mike, like, you know, you said it exactly right. This is where you go, ooh, wait, OK. I understand them make making Jaxon Smith-Njigba a first-round pick. We talked about how he's not a guy that can win on the outside and do that.
And like you just said, he doesn't need to be on the outside. Now he's gonna have that space to work the middle of the field. Lockett's out there. Metcalf's out there. Oh, we got to worry about them running go routes. We got to put a safety over the top. And now he's gonna have all this space in the middle?
And then you couple that with Noah Fant, the tackles they got, the way Geno's playing, and Kenneth Walker, who might be the best young running back in football, like, holy crap, Batman. The Seahawks got something working on both sides of the ball right now.