# Ahkello Witherspoon

Ahkello Witherspoon (born March 21, 1995) is an American professional football cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Sacramento City College and Colorado and has played in the National Football League for the San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Los Angeles Rams.

## Early life

Witherspoon attended Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, California. He played only one season of football in high school.

## College career

Witherspoon played at Sacramento City College for one year before transferring to the University of Colorado Boulder. He played at Colorado from 2014 to 2016. During his career, he had 71 tackles and three interceptions.

## Professional career
### Pre-draft

Coming out of Colorado, Witherspoon was projected to be a second or third round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He received an invitation to the NFL Combine and performed nearly every combine drill, but opted to skip the bench press. On March 8, 2017, he chose to participate at Colorado's pro day long with, Chidobe Awuzie, Tedric Thompson, Sefo Liufau, and ten other prospects. All 32 NFL teams had team representatives and scouts present. He had five private workouts and visits with the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks. He was ranked the 14th best cornerback prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.
Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump |
| 6 ft 2+3⁄4 in (1.90 m) | 198 lb (90 kg) | 33 in (0.84 m) | 9+7⁄8 in (0.25 m) | 4.45 s | 1.53 s | 2.57 s | 4.13 s | 6.93 s | 40.5 in (1.03 m) | 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) |
| All values from NFL Combine |||||||||||

### San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers selected Witherspoon in the third round (66th overall) of the 2017 NFL draft. He was the 11th cornerback selected in the 2017 NFL Draft.

#### 2017 season

On May 12, 2017, the San Francisco 49ers signed Witherspoon to a four–year, $3.88 million contract that included an initial signing bonus of $973,572.
Throughout training camp, Witherspoon competed against Dontae Johnson, Rashard Robinson, and Keith Reaser for a role as a starting cornerback. Head coach Kyle Shanahan named him the fourth cornerback on the depth chart to begin the season, behind Dontae Johnson, Rashard Robinson, and Keith Reaser.
He began his rookie season inactive as a healthy scratch for the first four games (Weeks 1–4). On October 8, 2017, Witherspoon made his professional regular season debut, but was limited to one solo tackle during a 26–23 overtime loss at the Indianapolis Colts. Prior to Week 8, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh promoted Witherspoon to a starter to replace Rashard Robinson who was benched after repetitive penalties and was subsequently traded to the New York Jets, two days later. Head coach Kyle Shanahan stated that Witherspoon would be the starting cornerback, opposite Dontae Johnson, moving forward and his development was one of the key factors in trading Robinson. On October 29, 2017, Witherspoon earned his first career start, recording three solo tackles, a pass deflection, and made his first career interception off a pass thrown by Carson Wentz to wide receiver Mack Hollins during a 33–10 lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. Pro Football Focus graded Witherspoon the best player on the 49ers during the matchup against the Eagles and credited him with allowing three receptions on eight targets. On December 24, 2017, Witherspoon recorded three combined tackles (two solo), made a season-high two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Blake Bortles intended for Keelan Cole as the 49ers defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 44–33. The following week, he collected a season-high tying four solo tackles and had one pass break up during a 34–13 victory at the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17. He finished his rookie campaign with a total of 32 combined tackles (28 solo), seven passes defended, and two interceptions in 12 games and nine starts.

#### 2018 season

He entered training camp projected to be a starting cornerback after the departure of Dontae Johnson. Head coach Kyle Shanahan named Witherspoon and Richard Sherman.l the starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season. In Week 3, he collected a season-high five solo tackles during a 27–38 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs. On December 16, 2018, Witherspoon made one solo tackle before exiting in the third quarter of the 49ers 26–23 victory at the Seattle Seahawks due to an injury. On December 18, 2018, the San Francisco 49ers officially placed Witherspoon on injured reserve for the rest of the season (Weeks 16–17) due to a knee injury. He ended his sophomore season in the NFL with a total of 37 combined tackles (30 solo), four passes defended, and a fumble recovery in 14 games and 12 starts.

#### 2019 season

Witherspoon and Richard Sherman returned as the starting cornerback duo under defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. On September 8, 2019, Witherspoon made two solo tackles, a season-high three pass deflections, and intercepted a pass thrown by Jameis Winston to Dare Ogunbowale and returned it 25–yards to score the first touchdown of his career during a 31–17 victory at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He missed was inactive due to a foot injury for six consecutive games (Weeks 5–10). In Week 17, he collected a season-high five solo tackles and broke up two passes during a 26–21 win at the Seattle Seahawks. He finished the regular season with 28 combined tackles (24 solo), a career-high nine pass deflections, an interception, and a touchdown in ten games and eight starts.
The San Francisco 49ers finished the 2019 NFL season first in the NFC West with a 13–3 record and clinched a playoff berth and a first round bye. In the playoffs, he was demoted to a backup role to Emmanuel Moseley after a poor performance in the Divisional Round against the Minnesota Vikings. The 49ers went on to reach Super Bowl LIV, but lost 31–20 to the Kansas City Chiefs. Witherspoon finished the Super Bowl with one tackle.

#### 2020 season

In Week 16 against the Cardinals, Witherspoon recorded his first interception of the season off a pass thrown by Kyler Murray during the 20–12 win.

### Seattle Seahawks

On March 19, 2021, the Seattle Seahawks signed Witherspoon to a one–year, $4.00 million contract that is fully guaranteed and included an initial signing bonus of $2.50 million.

### Pittsburgh Steelers

On September 3, 2021, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded a 2023 fifth-round draft pick to the Seattle Seahawks in return for Witherspoon. In Week 14 Witherspoon had 4 tackles and intercepted Kirk Cousins twice in a 36–28 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
On March 25, 2022, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Witherspoon to a two–year, $8.00 million contract extension that includes an initial signing bonus of $2.96 million. He was named a starting cornerback for the Steelers alongside Cameron Sutton. He started the first three games before suffering a hamstring injury in Week 3. He missed seven of the next eight games before being placed on injured reserve on December 3, 2022. He was released by Pittsburgh on May 17, 2023.

### Los Angeles Rams

On June 29, 2023, the Los Angeles Rams signed Witherspoon to a one–year, $1.08 million contract. He recorded his first interception as a Ram in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on September 25, 2023.
On September 11, 2024, Witherspoon was signed to the Rams practice squad after going unsigned during the offseason. On October 22, 2024, the Los Angeles Rams promoted Witherspoon to their active roster and signed him to a one–year, $1.12 million contract. Witherspoon dove to catch a game-winning interception against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals on December 28, 2024. Witherspoon's play sealed a key win for the Rams, as it helped them clinch the NFC West division crown.

## NFL career statistics
### Regular season

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR |
| 2017 | SF | 12 | 9 | 32 | 28 | 4 | 0.0 | 7 | 2 | 42 | 21.0 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | SF | 14 | 12 | 37 | 30 | 7 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | SF | 10 | 8 | 28 | 24 | 4 | 0.0 | 9 | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 25T | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | SF | 11 | 4 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | PIT | 9 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 0.0 | 9 | 3 | 45 | 15.0 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | PIT | 4 | 4 | 20 | 17 | 3 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | LAR | 17 | 17 | 52 | 43 | 9 | 0.0 | 14 | 3 | 17 | 5.7 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Career | Career | 77 | 57 | 204 | 173 | 31 | 0.0 | 49 | 11 | 129 | 11.7 | 41 | 1 | 1 | 3 |

### Postseason

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR |
| 2019 | SF | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | PIT | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | LAR | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | Career | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Personal life

Witherspoon is the grandson of bluesman Jimmy Witherspoon.