Scouting The 2017 NFL Draft: Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado

Introduction

Hometown: Sacramento, California

High School: Christian Brothers High School

Recruitment: 3 Stars

Awards

2016 Jim Thorpe Award

Measurables

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 190

Class: Senior

Projected 40 Time: 4.50

Stats

Positives

• Long arms
• Great size for the position
• Had the most passes defended in 2016
• Stays on-top of deep routs
• Plays with confidence
• He’s wicked smart (Wants to becomes a surgeon when his football career is over.)
• Great hands
• Physical at the point of catch
• Very good at undercutting routs
• Gets his hands on receivers off the snap
• Fast at reading and reacting
• Agile hips

Negatives

• Doesn’t always take the best angles for a tackle
• Not a hard hitter
• Lacks top end speed
• Needs to wrap up tacklers better
• Needs to fight through blocks better

Conclusion

When someone mentions Colorado cornerbacks, most people think of Chidobe Awuzie. With teams moving away from Awuzie, they went after Witherspoon. Teams soon found out that Ahkello was well adept at holding down his side of the field. Witherspoon was efficient in both man press and off man coverage. He forced quarterbacks to choose their poison with who they would attack. Ahkello led the league with passes defended with 21. Witherspoon’s long arms, and physicality with the ball in the air frustrated receivers. If you look at the scores Witherspoon did give up this year, they were almost perfect plays by both quarterback and receiver. The Jets are desperate for cornerback help. At the moment, I am not convinced any of the guys we have are suitable starters for next year. We need to infuse some talent here right away. Witherspoon can absolutely be that guy.

Draft Round Prediction: Round 4