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Senior Bowl Analysis: Wesley Woodyard

Over the course of the next three articles, I will comment on what I saw out of three rookies that the Broncos drafted or signed that also played in the Senior Bowl game.  One game can never tell everything about a player, but a game that features the best of the college ranks with the guidance of NFL coaches is about as good as it gets in the postseason.

I had incorrectly included Eddie Royal in this group—while he did participate in the Senior Bowl practices, he did not play in the actual game.  It’s only proper to correct the record at this point.

We’ll begin with linebacker Wesley Woodyard, who despite having a tremendously productive career at Kentucky that included three triple-tackle seasons, still went undrafted for one glaring negative—size.  When you go to the next level, the unfortunate reality is that the players are a lot bigger.  Nevertheless, three teams come to mind that can be a haven for small but athletic LBs: Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, and of course Denver, featuring the likes of the recently cut Ian Gold.  I’m glad Woodyard chose the Broncos, because as the tape shows, there’s a lot to like about this kid.

The first thing that strikes you is field presence.  The 49ers’ coaches used Woodyard a lot in the open field in a “read and react” type placement, and it was clear that the reason is because he can quickly zero in onto where the ball is going.  For starters, he was able to start in the middle of the field yet still hunt down running backs when it was clear they were getting the ball.

On the second play of the game, he began a few steps to the right before noticing it was a play action fake, and was able to sprint far to the left to meet the recipient of the pass (USC’s Chauncey Washington) just a couple yards past the line of scrimmage.  With about 2:30 left in the first half, Woodyard again was not fooled by a pitch to Cal’s Justin Forsett, and although he failed to prevent a first down, the gain was about as minimum as it gets.

Woodyard was also able to drop into coverage with ease.  On yet another bootleg by Trojan John David Booty on his first snap of the game, Woodyard was able to retreat far into the secondary to help cover Purdue’s Dorian Bryant.  This coverage as a safety allowed Bryant’s initial cover, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, to jump the route and deflect Booty’s pass away.  A few plays later on the same drive, Woodyard was sprinting to the sideline again to assist Cromartie on a quick pass to Adarius Bowman (although Cromartie needed no help as he made a textbook tackle).

Woodyard was also used on the line a few times, where he was able to use his speed to track down running backs on the back side.  That’s a trait that will fit in very well in Denver, as Gold used to specialize in such plays.

It was clear, however, that Woodyard’s lack of size was giving him some troubles.  To negate some of Woodyard’s early successes, the North offense starting sending the fullback directly at him, and he had difficulty shedding the blocks.  His tackling wasn’t also as clean as hoped for.  In one instance at 6:40 left in the 4th quarter, while Woodyard once again met the running back, he was only able to land an arm tackle, and needed Cromartie to come in and finish him off. A couple plays later, Forsett slipped a tackle from Woodyard, resulting in a first down that a mic-ed up Mike Nolan could be heard showing despair in.

To end on a positive note, there are two intangibles about Woodyard that I really like.  The first is that he has a high motor, and was near the ball on nearly every snap he played.  Proof of that was evident in that he had one of the dirtiest jerseys on at the end of the game.  The second is that he was constantly giving props to his teammates for making big plays (Cromartie in particular) and was clearly having fun playing the game.  I interpret that as Woodyard being a good locker room presence, and that makes a big difference when you’re trying to fit in with the pros.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 10:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.