Draft Gems: Xavier Woods

[Ivan The Awesome]

Continuing on this road to the draft. The Safety class this year is loaded. Very very loaded. I believe two safeties will be taken in the top 10 this year, being Malik Hooker and Jamal Adams. Understandably so, they are the upper echelon of safeties that are coveted by the league. Rangy, fast, instinctive, once in a lifetime players. For us, Jamal Adams would be a better fit than Hooker, but that's up to debate. On record, I'd prefer Adams over Hooker simply because we need a SS more than a FS. Moving on from that debate..

 

 

Enter Xavier Woods.

 

(Xavier Woods making a play)

 

 

(Chris Collinsworth Voice) Now here's a guy-- Yeah no. 

 

Xavier woods is a bit underrated. Could it be because he plays for LA tech? Sure. Maybe people over look him because of his size? 5'11. Sure. He may not have the size that is desirable for a SS to play but he sure does have the speed and athleticism to do the job just fine. He's a play maker. The break down videos I've seen of him have a lot of good and a lot of bad, but one thing that stands out is his play making ability and his tackling. 

 

Like I mentioned before. Xavier is 5'11, 203 pounds. Even with this frame his production was as follows. 

 

 

 

"Woods was higly productive in 2015 making 56 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 3 INT and 3 PD. In 2016 he had 89 Tackles, 6.5 TFL, 5 INT and 6 PD."

 

The guy has a nose for the ball. He's a sure tackler when he hits, but I have seen him  take some bad angles. That's something that can be coached so I won't really fret on that. 

The knock on Woods would be his height. Personally, I don't really emphasize much on that. I know the league is going more towards taller receivers and such, but this kid is such a good tackler and his intuitive alertness of the strike zone is so great that he can literally knock down a 6'5 body down on his back like nothing.  See below. 

 

 

 

Minute 1:17. Look at the play, it is similar to what Seattle, Atlanta, Tampa, even NO did against us this season. Simple concept, 3 set wide and 1 TE. Look at Woods reaction time and bask in that glorious hit. I've seen that play time and time again and have Boston completely miss the target or just wait for him to make the catch and THEN tackle him. Woods times it just enough and hits him in the right area that it is a perfectly legal hit. That sets the tempo. people that go over the middle will think twice to do so. 

 

 

If for whatever reason Adams or Hooker isn't picked in the first round, getting woods in the later rounds could prove to be a steal. He's hard hitting, he knows how to hit and where to hit, he has a nose for the ball and creates turnovers. Something we need back in that secondary. Pair him up with Worley and Bradberry along side with Coleman? We'll have a very young and strong secondary for years. 

 

In conclusion if Adams and hooker are not available. This guy would be a very good pick as well. Not sure where he would go though. Depending on his combine, he could shoot up draft boards as well. 

[Saca312]

Really intriguing player. Never heard of him until you mentioned him. This guy looks like a true gem honestly.

An interesting article in relation to this: He's the type of safety Sean McDermott would love to utilize. I'm assuming we'll still recreate such a philosophy even without McDermott, and we could go for him.

http://www.cover1.net/2017/01/player-to-watch-safety-xavier-woods/

Quote

In McDermott’s defense the safeties are important. Quarterbacks are taught to find the safeties pre snap as part of their reads. The safety structure, IE one high vs. two high, typically reveals the coverage that he will see post snap. But McDermott moves his safeties a ton pre snap to post snap in order to disguise and confuse QBs.

Woods is a safety that obviously the staff and scouts believe shows the traits that McDermott is looking for in his safeties. The ability to tackle, rush the passer and cover on the back end. Woods is likely a late round pick or undrafted free agent, but guys like this are the type of players that McDermott has had a knack of developing and finding roles for in his defenses.

Either we snatch him or McDermott does from what I'm reading up on him. I would not be surprised to see the trigger in the 6th or 7th rounds and find us coming out with a steal.

[Ivan The Awesome]

40 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

Really intriguing player. Never heard of him until you mentioned him. This guy looks like a true gem honestly.

An interesting article in relation to this: He's the type of safety Sean McDermott would love to utilize. I'm assuming we'll still recreate such a philosophy even without McDermott, and we could go for him.

http://www.cover1.net/2017/01/player-to-watch-safety-xavier-woods/

Either we snatch him or McDermott does from what I'm reading up on him. I would not be surprised to see the trigger in the 6th or 7th rounds and find us coming out with a steal.

Fug it, get him in the 5th round. 

[Icege]

Been curious about this guy myself. Appreciate the write up!

[The Lobo]

Great post thank you. If we snagged him I wouldn't be upset.

[Untouchable]

He struggled at the Shrine game this week. Ball skill in particular were noted as poor. 

http://draftanalyst.com/

[party_animal]

1 hour ago, Untouchable said:

He struggled at the Shrine game this week. Ball skill in particular were noted as poor. 

http://draftanalyst.com/

 

[Saca312]

2 hours ago, Untouchable said:

He struggled at the Shrine game this week. Ball skill in particular were noted as poor. 

http://draftanalyst.com/

Hurt his stock. Might be a good UDFA/7th rounder someone may pick up.

[DeeJay]

6 hours ago, party_animal said:

 

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