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?
