49ers’ 2018 ‘Who Is?’ series: Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon
By Peter Panacy
Why Ahkello Witherspoon Regresses
While the arrow is certainly pointing upwards for Ahkello Witherspoon, 49ers fans need only to look back at Rashard Robinson to see how a promising rookie can regress in one short year.
This won’t be the case, hopefully, yet there are reasons for some concern.
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While Witherspoon’s tape improved as the year moved along, there are still some numbers and stats that are of issue. Case in point, opponents’ quarterbacks managed a 94.6 passer rating when targeting Witherspoon last year, per Pro Football Focus, which ranked 60th out of 86 qualifiers.
A full year in defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s system should help, as should Richard Sherman’s advice. And it’s not uncommon for rookie defensive backs to struggle early on during their transition to the pros.
Still, it will fall on Witherspoon to take command of his shortcomings and improve upon that metric.
Additionally, Sherman’s presence might have another side effect. Despite coming off a serious Achilles injury last year and turning 30 years old, Sherman’s name alone commands respect. And if he plays anywhere close to the caliber he flashed over the past few years, those same quarterbacks will likely want to look elsewhere when delivering passes.
This means targeting Witherspoon even more, who saw a pass thrown his way once in just shy of every seven attempts last season.
If he’s not equal to the task, one will have to wonder if Witherspoon’s promising career fizzles out just as quickly as it started.
Not unlike Robinson.