Allen Park — The Detroit Lions are understandably thrilled with the team’s most-recent draft class, but had the board fallen differently, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see cornerback Devon Witherspoon in Honolulu blue. In fact, going into the event, it’s how most outside observers saw things playing out.
Instead, the Seattle Seahawks plucked Witherspoon with the No. 5 pick, one spot ahead of the Lions, starting a series of trades during the first two days of the event that culminated in the team adding running back Jahmyr Gibbs, linebacker Jack Campbell, tight end Sam LaPorta and defensive back Brian Branch, who earned a starting job that might have belonged to Witherspoon in an alternate universe.
Now, in Week 2 of the 2023 season, the Lions are preparing to face Witherspoon, who is expected to make his debut, after missing the opener and a good chunk of training camp because of a hamstring injury. Adding intrigue to the matchup, there are lingering questions about where he’ll line up and how quickly he’ll be able to shake off the rust.
Seattle had been experimenting with using him at nickel back before the hamstring became an issue, but now there’s an opening on the outside with Tre Brown and Michael Jackson struggling opposite second-year standout Rik Woolen.
“Yeah, it’s challenging because there’s just not much to go off of,” Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said about preparing for Witherspoon. “I think as a whole, you can see how the group is coached and the various techniques that they displayed based on the coverages and you kind of project that onto him as well, but yeah, there’s a lot of unknown with where he’ll be, where he’ll line up and how he’ll play.”
The Lions obviously scouted Witherspoon thoroughly ahead of the draft, giving them a deep understanding of his abilities, based on what he put on film during his time at the University of Illinois. Plus, there’s not much mystery about what coach Pete Carroll likes to run defensively in his 14th season leading the Seahawks. Those two things give Johnson and his staff a strong starting point in trying to prepare for the unknown.
For Detroit’s top receiver, Amon-Ra St. Brown, it’s less about what Witherspoon can or will do and more about dictating the game plan to Seattle’s defensive backs.
“I feel like when I go out there, our coaches do a good job showing us the tape, different tendencies for the defense, coverages they like to run, but for me, at the end of the day, they have to defend me,” St. Brown said. “If I go right, they have to go right. It’s, for me, making sure I’m doing what I’ve gotta do.”
While Witherspoon’s debut brings a mix of excitement and mystery, Woolen has to be the true concern in Seattle’s secondary. In his second season out of UTSA, he exploded onto the scene as a rookie, tying for the NFL lead with six interceptions. One of those came against the Lions, a devastating pick-six to open the third quarter in Seattle’s 48-45 victory at Ford Field.
“I actually got to talk to him at the Pro Bowl; he’s an awesome dude,” St. Brown said. “He’s all of 6-foot-4. He’s probably the tallest corner I’ve ever seen. He’s (also) probably one of the fastest DBs in this league. He’s long, I love him, I love his game. He can make a play on the ball, too. Not a lot of corners can do that. I think he’s a really good corner. Maybe gets (overshadowed) by some of the other DBs, but he’s definitely, I think, one of the the top DBs in this league. We know that going into the game. It’s going to be a good matchup. I can’t wait to go against him. Nothing but respect for that guy.”
With Woolen and Witherspoon, Seattle has the eventual makings of one of the league’s top cornerback tandems. Paired with playmaking safety Quandre Diggs, who Lions fans remember fondly, Johnson is tasked with constructing a game plan that can keep the chains moving, while quarterback Jared Goff’s remarkable run of ball security — 359 consecutive passes without an interception — will face one of its stiffest tests during that stretch.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
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