Dynasty Rookie Profile: Jelani Woods (2022 Fantasy Football)

Jelani Woods‘ original path to the college ranks was as a quarterback. Coming out of Cedar Grove High School in Ellenwood, Georgia, he amassed 1,018 passing yards (7 games played), completing 69.2 percent of his passes with a 13:3 passing touchdown to interception ratio. Woods was a three-star (per 247Sports.com) quarterback prospect ranked 69th overall in the state of Georgia. Before committing to Oklahoma, he had offers from Colorado State, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern, and Jackson State.

The Oklahoma State coaching staff promptly converted him to tight end in late 2017. From 2018-to 2020, Woods was used only sparingly in the passing game, with 45 total targets. It wasn’t until he transferred to Virginia for his final season that he was finally featured in the aerial attack. He saw a 12.6 percent target share (71 targets), finishing fifth on the team in receiving yards and second in receiving touchdowns.

As recent as February of this year, Woods was projected as a possible sixth-round draft pick, but then the NFL combine happened. Woods and his mammoth frame proceeded to run a 4.61 40-yard dash (88th percentile) and bench 24 reps (82nd percentile). In addition, he churned out a 94th percentile speed score, 95th percentile burst score, and 83rd percentile agility score (per Playerprofiler.com). He also measured in with an 89th percentile wingspan (82″). After this performance, he’s seen his stock skyrocket. He’s staring down possible top 100 draft capital now. So this begs the question, is Woods a potential diamond in the rough, or is he this year’s bust-worthy combine darling?

Jelani Woods Draft Profile

* Recruit stars via 247Sports / *3-star prospect as a quarterback*

Jelani Woods College Statistics

Jelani Woods Dynasty Fantasy Analysis

Jelani Woods is a mountain of a man. When you flip on the film, there’s no wondering where he’s at on the field or mistaking him for another player with his hulking build and the big number 0 on his back. However, after reading his prodigious testing numbers and then watching his game tape, many will be let down at first by what they witnessed in 2021. With combine numbers like this, you’d expect to see a monster in between the hashes, and while Woods does deliver on some of that promise, he also looks lumbering. He looked stiff at times with his gigantic size, but the more I watched him, the more I liked his game.

*Only nine targets*

While Woods isn’t a fluid blazer or a glider, he does show off smooth hips on short-area routes and when running quick-outs or slants. He utilizes a strong jab step to create separation in his routes. Woods still needs to clean up his catching technique, as you’ll often see him bobble receptions. This could be technique or related to his 9.5″ hands (24th percentile). It’s also reflected in his 10.7 percent collegiate drop rate.

His speed needs to be taken into context. While his 40 time is impressive, it’s more build-up speed. His 10-yard split (1.62) is only in the 31st percentile per Mockdraftable. Understanding this also makes his usage curious, as he saw 49.3 percent (per PFF) of his targets in between zero to nine yards beyond the line of scrimmage. This mark was his lowest since 2019, though, as we finally saw a coaching staff open up a different part of his game. Woods finally saw an increase in his intermediate usage, with 38.0 percent of his targets coming between 10-19 yards last year. Woods responded, ranking 19th in Yards per route run on short targets immediately behind Trey McBride and 23rd on intermediate targets behind McBride and Charlie Kolar.

Woods is at his best when utilized up the seam. With a head of steam, he’s a load to bring down in the open field. Last year he ranked sixth among tight ends with 11 missed tackles forced. He has zero issues lowering his shoulder and running over someone. With his more linear movement skills and better athletes overall in the NFL, it’ll be curious if his tackle-breaking translates to the NFL.

Woods should be a red zone threat from day one in the NFL. While he was used more downfield in 2021, Virginia still didn’t take advantage of his size nearly enough. He wasn’t deployed on fade routes or high point opportunities where he could put his wingspan to use. Hopefully, this will be in the works by his next offensive coordinator.

As an inline blocker, Woods surprisingly performs well, considering his height. He gets low and shows tenacity, power and the ability to sustain blocks. There have been flashes of dominance in this area, while he’s never put it all together in the same season. In 2019 (minimum 100 blocking snaps, per PFF), he was the second-highest graded pass-blocking tight end (out of 285 sampled tight ends). In 2020 (minimum 100 blocking snaps), he ranked 29th (out of 199) in run blocking per PFF’s grades.

Woods might never reach the lofty standards set by his athletic measurables, but he’s still an untapped well of production. With further refinement at the NFL level and better consistency in his performance, he could be among the league’s best blockers and a chain-moving, zone-busting red zone maven.

Player Comp – Jimmy Graham (Seattle Seahawks version as his ceiling comp)

No, I haven’t lost my mind. I’m not comparing a player as raw as Woods to a future Hall of Famer like Graham in his prime. If Woods can put it all together, he can be a featured weapon in a passing attack with whopping red zone equity. This is the role that Graham operated in during the latter parts of his career. This would be his ceiling comp, with the floor being as a backup tight end that’s used in the red zone like Marcedes Lewis or Mo Alie-Cox.

Landing Spot and Dynasty Outlook

Jelani Woods now resides with tight end committee zealot Frank Reich. While the Colts have utilized the position regularly in the passing game and in the red zone, they have religiously done so with multiple players. This shrapnels the target share into obscurity. This easily could be the fate for Woods. The upside hope for Woods resides in his insane athleticism taking over the room and the Colts not wishing to take him off the field. He also has the fact that Mo Alie-Cox will be 29 this season and is on a team-friendly deal that they can get out of with no dead cap hit as soon as 2024 in his corner.

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