Madden NFL 25 appears to forget Devon Witherspoon in new rankings
By Lee Vowell
Madden ratings are not perfect, of course. They are based on past success and pure athleticism. It is also - and let's be real - based on a video game. The issue when it comes to Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon is that Witherspoon has high-end athleticism and was decently productive in 2023. He likely will be even better in 2024.
Where Madden 25 seems far off is that based on overall rating, Witherspoon doesn't rank inside the top 30 of cornerback ratings. That is a farce as the second-year player made the Pro Bowl last year, had three sacks, a 97-yard pick-six, and a quarterback rating allowed of 87.9. He is clearly one of the best players at his position no matter what Madden believes.
The part where it gets weird is in what Madden 25 calls "General Attributes Rating." Here, Witherspoon ranks much higher. Witherspoon rates 87 there and that is well inside the top 15 of cornerbacks. Witherspoon's teammate, Riq Woolen, is also ranked 22 in the overall ratings so the Seahawks should have a good duo of corners in 2024.
Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon gets a dose of disrespect in Madden 25 rankings
Sauce Gardner is the highest-rated corner. Fair enough. His coverage skills are elite and he has only allowed two touchdowns in two seasons.
Future Hall of Famer (maybe Gardner is as well) Jalen Ramsey is the second-best corner and one could argue he should be listed as the best as he had a fantastic 51.1 quarterback rating allowed in 2023, nearly 30 points lower than Gardner's. Ramsey is also a three-time First-Team All-Pro and has not missed making a Pro Bowl since 2018.
Next. Former Seahawks QB might take over starting QB job. Former Seahawks QB might take over starting QB job. dark
Those last two players are the top two, and is Witherspoon that far off from them? Witherspoon's yards per target was lower (5.4 to 6.0) than Gardner's in 2023. The Seahawks corner did allow five touchdowns last season, but so did the more veteran Ramsey when Ramsey allowed five in 2022.
This is not an argument that Spoon is a top-five cornerback (yet), but his numbers are close enough to Madden 25's top two, so there is no way Witherspoon should be listed well outside the top 20. Maybe this will simply be more fuel to the raging fire that Devon Witherspoon plays with. An even more motivated Witherspoon can only mean good things for the Seahawks in 2024.
More Seahawks news and analysis:
manual