RENTON, Wash. — Had the sack and interception Devon Witherspoon initially appeared to have Sunday counted in his stats, he might again be under consideration for NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors when the awards are announced Wednesday.
Each was negated due to penalties far away from Witherspoon.
Witherspoon has already won the award once, following his breakout game against the Giants three weeks ago.
As it was, his official stat line in Sunday's 20-10 win over Arizona ended up looking like not much — three tackles and one pass defensed.
But that stat line obviously didn't come close to gauging the impact the rookie cornerback had on the game.
"The Spoon was out there," coach Pete Carroll said.
So much so that when the analytic site Pro Football Focus assessed Witherspoon's game, it decided he'd played about as well as any cornerback in the NFL last week.
PFF not only named Witherspoon to its team of the week — the only Seahawk honored — but also now has Witherspoon rated as the best cornerback in the NFL.
PFF grades players on a scale of 0-100 with anything over 80 regarded as exceptionally good.
Witherspoon, the fifth overall pick out of Illinois, has three straight games of 83.0 or better and a season grade of 88.5 — the next highest-rated corner is Jaylon Johnson of the Bears at 85.5. His grade is also the best of any Seahawk — Bobby Wagner is next at 87.5.
To further belabor the point, PFF assessed Witherspoon as having 39 coverage snaps but being targeted just twice and allowing no receptions.
That's pretty darn close to Richard Sherman territory — recall the famous 2014 season opener when Aaron Rodgers didn't bother throwing one pass to Sherman's side of the field.
For the season, Witherspoon has allowed 14 receptions on 29 targets for 128 yards with one touchdown and one interception — the TD being the trick play Detroit pulled on him in his first career game. Despite that TD, Witherspoon is allowing a passer rating of just 57.8, per PFF.
What Witherspoon is doing just five games into his career, though, is impressing coaches and teammates even further due to all of the responsibility he is taking on.
Witherspoon is officially the starter at left cornerback in the base defense — the side of the field typically regarded as more challenging with most quarterbacks being right-handed.
He then moves inside to play in the slot when the team goes with its nickel or dime defenses (meaning five or six defensive backs on the field).
In part because it can be a challenge for a player to essentially fill two roles, Carroll has generally left cornerbacks at one spot — as an outside corner (Sherman played the left side his entire career other than sometimes being asked to follow a specific receiver in man-to-man) or inside.
On Sunday, according to PFF, Witherspoon played 39 of his 66 snaps outside with 19 in the slot (and the other eight in the box or deep).
In Cincinnati, when Seattle went with fewer three-safety sets, the role was almost flipped as Witherspoon played 42 in the slot and seven outside.
For the season, Witherspoon has played 199 snaps outside and 122 inside.
After Sunday's game, Seattle safety Jamal Adams — who made the PFWA All-Rookie Team in 2017 while with the Jets — was asked how hard it is for a rookie to handle so many responsibilities.
"I don't know," Adams said. "You have to ask him on that because my rookie year I was [expletive], so I don't really know. He's a phenomenal football player. Hats off to him. He's very smart, he's very coachable, and he listens. It's a rare find and it's a reason why he's a top-five pick."
Adams went on to call Witherspoon "one of the smartest rookies I've been around."
Witherspoon is also quickly closing in as being regarded as among the best in the NFL this season.
In fact, with each week, Witherspoon's Vegas odds of winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year award have gotten better and better. He was 22-1 entering the second week of the season after sitting out the opening game with a lingering hamstring injury — and he was that high based mostly on his draft standings.
But this week he is 9-4, according to BetOnline.ag behind only Philadelphia defensive lineman Jalen Carter, who is at 2-3.
Seattle, of course, passed on Carter at five to take Witherspoon, with the Eagles taking Carter at nine.
There was much consternation among some in the Seahawks fan base when Witherspoon sat out the preseason and the first game with his injury.
But that appears gone now.
As PFF wrote this week: "Jalen Carter has been a strong frontrunner for Defensive Rookie of the Year so far, but Witherspoon could make it a fascinating race moving forward."
Seahawks re-sign RB Koback to practice squad
There was no official word Tuesday on how the Seahawks will replace outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu on the team's 53-man roster — Nwosu is expected to soon go on injured reserve due to a pectoral injury that is likely to require season-ending surgery.
Seattle did make one roster move Tuesday, re-signing running back Bryant Koback to the practice squad and releasing receiver Cody White.
Koback spent the early part of training camp with the Seahawks and gained 32 yards on six carries in the preseason opener against Minnesota. He was released off Philadelphia's practice squad last week.
Koback adds depth at running back with it remaining somewhat unclear who all Seattle will have available this week behind Kenneth Walker III.
Backup Zach Charbonnet missed Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, which compelled Seattle to elevate rookie SaRodorick Thompson Jr. off the practice squad as a third running back behind Walker and DeeJay Dallas.
Thompson was the only other running back on either the active or practice squad rosters aside from Walker, Charbonnet and Dallas.
Walker ended up taking all 26 carries in the game other than six scrambles by quarterback Geno Smith. Dallas played mostly in the third-down package.
The Seahawks hope to get Charbonnet back this week, but are obviously adding depth just in case.
Seattle also hopes that rookie Kenny McIntosh, a seventh-round pick out of Georgia, will be able to return to practice this week. But Carroll said the team will be cautious with McIntosh, who suffered a knee injury in the team's mock game on Aug. 4 and has not done any on-field work since. He was placed on IR the first week of the season but is now eligible to come off. Once he returns, he can practice for 21 days before the team has to put him on the 53-man or back on IR for the season. McIntosh would almost certainly need a week or two to show he is ready to play.
"Hoping Kenny's coming back out on Wednesday to start running and going," Carroll said. "We have that option, we're going to make sure everything fits right but he's ready to go."
The Seahawks also re-signed offensive lineman Ben Brown to the practice squad after waiving him over the weekend.
