Rookie Report: Jelani Woods Flashes Elite Potential in Year One
The Indianapolis Colts selected University of Virginia tight end Jelani Woods with the 73rd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The young tight end was used sparingly in his first season, as he saw the field for just 333 snaps on offense.
Even with the limited playing time, it was easy to see the raw potential that Woods possesses when he touched the ball. If the Colts can upgrade their quarterback room going forward, Woods could be among the NFL's elite tight ends in no time.
Let's look at his rookie season under the microscope to see how he did.
Draft Prospect Profile
Woods was labeled by many draft analysts as an athletic pass catching tight end with unlimited potential. He was mostly seen as a day two or early day three caliber prospect by most draft sites in the process.
Woods turned the heads of every scout in attendance at the NFL Combine last season, as he firmly solidified his status as a day two pick at the event. Measuring in at 6'7" 253 pounds, he wowed scouts with a blazing 4.61 forty yard dash and 6.95 second three cone drill.
Kent Lee Platte has charted NFL prospect athletic profiles for years and uses a formula called Relative Athletic Score (RAS) to measure prospects against historical averages. Woods scored as a perfect 10.00/10 on this grading scale for his performance, which made him the most athletic tight end out of 998 tight ends scouted from 1987-2022:
Rookie Season Overview
Woods came into Training Camp as the Colts' fourth tight end on the depth chart, even slotted behind fellow rookie draft pick Andrew Ogletree. Ogletree was lost for the season with an injury a few weeks into camp, which solidified Woods' status as a top three player on the depth chart going into the year.
Woods struggled to consistently find the field as a rookie, as he logged fewer than 20 offensive snaps in all but six games this past season. He did see his snaps increase quite a bit late in the season, as he saw over 30 offensive snaps in each of the final three games.
For the year, Woods finished with 25 receptions on 36 targets for 312 yards and three touchdowns. He was absolutely surgical as an intermediate target for the team, as Colts' quarterbacks completed 14 of 18 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns when targeting him between 10-19 yards down the field.
Woods was also utilized down the field quite a bit, as his average depth of target was 10.7 on the season. That number ranked as the fifth highest in the league among all tight ends.
Strengths/Areas of Success
Athleticism
Jelani Woods is a tight end that was built in a lab. A player with his size has no right moving the way that he does, but he simply glides down the field with the ball in his hands. In the few opportunities where he had the ball in the open field, he destroyed opposing defenders' angles with his speed.
If the Colts' next head coach can't find a way to utilize this special athlete in the open field, then I want no part of them. This is rare mover that showed flashes in his first season, just feed him underneath and allow him to go to work.
Red Zone Success
The Colts' offense this past season was an abject disaster, so we rarely got to see this monster get targets in the red zone in 2022. When we did, however, the result was typically pretty good.
Woods has the rare ability to beat defenders with his foot speed and his size. This is the perfect player to have in red zone packages, as he can create separation early and then bully defenders for touchdowns. We saw glimpses of it in 2022, which leads me to think that this can be a regular thing in the future.
Route Running
For a player that was labeled as a raw/developmental prospect coming out of college, I was pleasantly surprised by how far along his route running was as a rookie. He isn't the type that is going to create five yards of separation on every snap, but he does some subtle things to create space for his long frame.
He understands how to use a rocker step to create separation on in breaking routes. He knows how to use his large frame to box out defenders and create throwing windows. He has a nice mixture of jabs and euro steps that he executes with great quickness. He also understands blind spots and how to find those open windows in a zone.
For a player of his size, I was extremely impressed by his ability to work open on his routes as a rookie.
Areas To Improve
Run Blocking
The biggest concern with Jelani Woods in year one is just how little he saw the field. A big part of that is his ability as a run blocker. The Colts' coaching staff clearly felt more comfortable with Kylen Granson and Mo Alie-Cox in these situations, which led to both of those players seeing more snaps overall.
If Woods wants to be a legit number one tight end for the Colts, he needs to improve upon his run blocking so he can see the field more.
Drops/Consistency
Woods didn't have a huge drop problem in year one, but he did log two drops on 36 targets on the season. He's a rookie so this isn't a major concern, but it is something to be a little wary of if his targets double next season.
The Bottom Line
Jelani Woods is a rare athlete at tight end that showed much more polish than I expected in his rookie season. We only saw flashes in year one, but everything about his game points to him being a potential game-breaker in the near future.
If the Colts can figure out the QB position (and their next head coach) Jelani Woods can work his way up with the NFL's elite tight ends one day. His skillset and potential is that good. I'm extremely optimistic about his future with the Colts.
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