Seahawks stick at No. 5 overall, select Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon
The Seattle Seahawks indeed kept the No. 5 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but instead of taking Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter as many expected, they went a different direction: Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
Witherspoon, a 5-foot-11, 181-pound defender, shined for the Fighting Illini last year, finishing the season as a first-team All-Big Ten member and a unanimous All-American. He picked off three passes and had 14 passes defensed.
Witherspoon is now the highest-drafted cornerback under head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider and the highest-drafted player overall under those two, who came to Seattle in 2010.
Previously, Carroll and Schneiders highest pick was offensive tackle Russell Okung at No. 6 in 2010, while the earliest pick theyd used on a cornerback was Shaquill Griffin in 2018 when he went 90th overall in the third round.
https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1755219/seattle-seahawks-stick-at-no-5-overall-select-illinois-cb-devon-witherspoon/