The Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts could have taken different future paths had each made a different decision a draft pick apart in the 2023 NFL draft. Thankfully, Indy saved Seattle from making a critical error. Instead, Seattle took a player who would become a true disruptor.
Both teams had a top-five selection. Indianapolis had one simply because of how bad they were in 2022. Seattle had theirs from one of the picks acquired in the trade that sent Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos after the 2021 season. Wilson and Denver were so bad in 2022, the Seahawks reaped the benefits.
With pick number four overall, the Colts chose quarterback Anthony Richardson. At number five, Seattle took cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Richardson has been an abject failure when he has been healthy enough to play. Witherspoon made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons.
Seattle Seahawks were saved from choosing Anthony Richardson in the 2023 NFL draft
Had the Colts not chosen Richardson before Seattle's time to choose, the Seahawks might have ended up with the quarterback. Former head coach Pete Carroll, who had full roster control with the Seahawks, admitted the team was enamored with the raw qualities the quarterback had, and Seattle might have wanted to take a QB to sit behind Geno Smith for a year.
Speaking on the Pete Carroll Show as part of the Brock and Salk program on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the coach said of Richardson, "We flew all the way out (to Florida) to go see him. Not just to see him, but to be around him and watch him and how he handled himself, and his program with all the hype that was going (on)."
Carroll also said that Richardson was arguably the best athlete to ever be drafted at the quarterback position. The good part is the Seahawks never had a chance to take the quarterback, as the Colts did one pick before. Otherwise, Seattle will have learned everything Indy has.
That is that Richardson might be a great athlete, but he is extremely inaccurate as a passer, makes poor decisions in the pocket, and gets easily injured. All the draft picks and players Seattle got back in the Russell Wilson trade would have been meaningless if the team had made the error of taking Anthony Richardson.
Meanwhile, Witherspoon could have easily been a Colt. A great one, too. His excellence might have made it so the Colts didn't have to make the move this year of trading for cornerback Sauce Gardner and giving up two future first-round picks to get him.
In other words, Devon Witherspoon would have saved the Indianapolis Colts from themselves. Instead, he was a gift for the Seattle Seahawks, one who continues to prove each week how valuable he is. Indy will get to see just how good the cornerback is when the teams meet in Week 15.