Devon Witherspoon: DB · Illinois · #31.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Devon Witherspoon
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away. The four seasons at Illinois span three head coaches: Lovie Smith, Rod Smith and Bret Bielema. The first career honor came in 2022: All-America (Consensus). On tape: 7 tackles against Virginia, Week 2, 2022.
Play style
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
42 tackles. 14 passes defended. 3 interceptions. 2.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
LancasterOnline Oct 25
Yahoo Sports Oct 25Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 11 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 38-6vs Wyoming | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 1 | L 20-23@ Indiana | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 3 | |
| Wk 2 | W 24-3vs Virginia | 7 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 3 | |
| Wk 5 | W 34-10@ Wisconsin | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 6 | W 9-6vs Iowa | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 7 | W 26-14vs Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | W 26-9@ Nebraska | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 15-23vs Michigan State | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 24-31vs Purdue | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | L 17-19@ No. 3 Michigan | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 13 | W 41-3@ Northwestern | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 33 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 3 | 14 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
33%14 pass breakupsInterceptions
3interceptionsTackle volume
42tackles this seasonTFL rate
6%2 TFL42 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 14 pass breakups · 3 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 3.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 |
| Road5g | 4.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
42.6%
393 pass / 530 run
Plays / game
71.0
13 games
Team sack rate
7.0%
388 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2022
First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Selector Grid · 2022
Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.
Career, closed
Gone at #5 overall.
How it ended
Four seasons at Illinois, 157 tackles, a Consensus All-American season (2022) — drafted at #5 overall by the Seattle Seahawks.
A stat line in 40 games over four seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS
Consensus AA (2022)
6 first-team selectors
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2022)
Coaching lineage · 2019–2022
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Lovie Smith → Bret Bielema. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Next stop · NFL
Seattle SeahawksEntering 4th NFL season
Seattle SeahawksEntering 4th NFL season
