Seahawks 2023 NFL Draft first round immediate reaction: Witherspoon and Smith-Njigba provide immediate impact
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – There were plenty of questions surrounding what the Seattle Seahawks were going to do with their two first round picks, the first sitting at the fifth overall spot, somewhere the team has rarely ever selected. Were they going to go with one of the quarterbacks that had been immensely hyped up in the buildup to the draft so that they had a solution under center for the future? Were they going to go with the troubled Jalen Carter, providing him with a space to rebound just as they have many times before with players trying to remake themselves? Were they going to trade out of that selection, as they have with their first-round pick time and time again in the years with John Schneider as general manager? None of those options, as the Seahawks went with the best cornerback in a draft filled with talent at that position with the fifth pick and added another playmaker for Geno Smith with the twentieth selection. Seattle got better on day one, and that’s a great thing to see.
Cornerback Devon Witherspoon in his time at the University of Illinois (Photo by Joe Robbins)
Round one, pick five: CB Devon Witherspoon, University of Illinois
Devon Witherspoon certainly isn’t the selection that I expected at fifth overall for Seattle, considering the opportunity to draft Jalen Carter (since Houston took Will Anderson Jr, who I had hoped for) and give him an opportunity when many noted character issues. But, considering how the Seattle secondary got torched often in 2022, it makes a lot of sense that the Seahawks want to improve their pass defense. In a 2023 draft class that is deep at the cornerback position, Seattle got the best one in Witherspoon out of the University of Illinois. While he didn’t face talent like the Ohio State receiving core like Joey Porter Jr (Out of Penn State) did, Witherspoon was an All-American and the best defensive back in the Big Ten.
Seattle broke tendency with their selection of Witherspoon, as this is the highest that they’ve ever selected a cornerback during Pete Carroll and John Schneider’s tenure together. A big part of why Witherspoon is viewed so highly is that he’s a true two-way corner that plays in both coverage and can help in the run. In addition to his playmaking ability, Witherspoon has 4.43 speed to help him out in coverage. While Seattle did have a big impact starter in Tariq Woolen at cornerback, many of the others on the depth chart were questions as Michael Jackson, a journeyman, was often a starter for the Seahawks while veterans like Artie Burns and Sidney Jones IV disappointed. Seattle snaps that by selecting Witherspoon here and creating a young cornerback pairing that should help them lock down opposing wideouts for years to come.
Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba during his time at Ohio State (Photo by Joseph Maiorana)
Round one, pick twenty: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State University
With the twentieth overall selection, Seattle was also an interesting team to wonder what they were going to do. Some asked if THIS is where they went with a quarterback, or perhaps they got more defense in this spot to continue to revamp a unit that struggled for most of 2022. Instead, the Seahawks turned towards an offensive need that they haven’t been able to properly fill since Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf have been teammates, by adding a true third wide receiver. Seattle made Jaxon Smith-Njigba out of THE Ohio State University the first wide receiver taken, and they got arguably the best wideout in this year's draft when they made the selection official. While the team has plugged in numerous veterans in this role (Marquise Goodwin wasn’t necessarily bad last year, just not a huge addition) and many other later round picks at wideout haven’t panned out, this is a big get.
Smith-Njigba can play both outside and inside, and Seattle offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is surely ready to figure out ways to mix that ability in throughout the playbook to get this potential three-headed monster of a receiving corps open. Like Witherspoon’s selection, this is the highest that the duo of Carroll and Schneider have ever selected a wide receiver. While a hamstring injury limited his 2022 season, Smith-Njigba has some of the same characteristics that Tyler Lockett displayed prior to the 2015 draft that the Seahawks liked so much. Things such as breakaway speed, spatial awareness, body control, and great ball-tracking skills all had Seattle seeing great things, and Smith-Njigba was able to display explosiveness in drills at the scouting combine to ease any concern following that aforementioned injury.
Immediate reaction: EXCELLENT
Obviously, draft grades and reactions that come out within the first few weeks and even months following any draft should be taken with a grain of salt. Not every player is going to have the same path, develop the same way, or have identical situations. Some teams may have reached with their selections for various reasons, some players just won’t fit right with the team that called their name last night. Ignoring that though, and giving you a reaction to what the Seahawks did last night? Seattle got two players that will immediately take notable snaps for them on night one, including doing so with a pick that was acquired in the Russell Wilson trade, so we can thank Denver for that. While Carter also could’ve been a home run of a selection, if the Seahawks were that turned off by the off the field issues, it must’ve really been a bad situation.
These two selections will easily make waves on the depth chart as soon as they put on a Seattle uniform, considering that the areas that they were specifically drafted for have been swings and misses over the past few years. Names like Dee Eskridge, Dareke Young, and Bo Melton amongst others have failed to meet the mark in the draft for Seattle in trying to slot that third spot on the wide receiver depth chart. Since the Legion of Boom era ended, the Seahawks have only ever had one quality corner on the roster at one time, and never this combination of youth on both sides. It’s a damn good first day for Seattle, and while the trenches still must be addressed, the number of selections on day two should help the Seahawks with that.
The picks ahead
Following their two selections in the first round of this year's draft, the Seahawks have two selections in the second round (37 and 52), one in the third (83), one in the fourth (123), two in the fifth (151 and 154), one in the sixth (198), and one in the seventh (237). Seattle has plenty of opportunity to add to their respective trenches, and it would make a ton of sense for them to load up on interior lineman on both sides of the football considering the need at center and nose tackle still, hence the reason why many believed that the Hawks were going to take Jalen Carter. While it was notable that they want with “best available” when using their first two picks in round one, Seattle must address the needs in the trenches if they’re going to compete with teams like the 49ers, let alone reach the mountain top of the league that is the Super Bowl.