The Jets claimed tight end Jelani Woods at the start of the season and he has been seeing action in the past few games for the team. Today we break Woods down in detail.
The 27-year old Woods is listed at 6’7″ and 253 pounds and was a third round pick out of Virginia in 2022. After a promising rookie season in which he caught 25 passes, including three touchdowns, Woods did not play in 2023 and 2024 due to injury. The Jets claimed him after final cuts and he has played in three games for them, albeit without recording a catch so far.
Background
Woods was a pro-style quarterback in high school, but he redshirted his first year at Oklahoma State, during which he was used as a scout team tight end. That went well enough that the coaches proposed a position change, which Woods agreed to.
Over the next three seasons, Woods was primarily used as a blocker but did catch 31 passes in 34 games, racking up over 350 yards and three touchdowns. In 2018 and 2019, he was named as an all-Big 12 honorable mention.
Ahead of the 2021 season, Woods opted to transfer to Virginia as a graduate transfer and they expanded his role. He racked up 44 catches for 598 yards and eight touchdowns and earned all-ACC first team recognition.
Having announced he would enter the 2022 NFL draft, Woods improved his stock with some good workout numbers and was widely considered a potential day two pick. The Colts selected him in round three and he played in 15 games as a rookie, starting two.
In those games, Woods caught 25 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns. That included a game against the Chiefs where he had two touchdowns, including the game-winner.
Expectations were high that Woods would build on that, but he missed the entire 2023 season and didn’t play in 2024 either due to injury. In preseason this year, he caught seven passes for 75 yards in three games but it wasn’t enough to earn him a spot on the 53, so when he was waived, the Jets claimed him.
With the Jets considered weak at the tight end position, it was hoped Woods could provide an upgrade but he’s been unable to crack the rotation. Until last week, he had been a healthy scratch for most of the season, having played just one offensive snap.
However, in the past two weeks, he has had a chance to contribute due to Mason Taylor’s injury. Despite not catching a pass yet, Woods has had some positive plays as a blocker.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Woods brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Woods is an imposing figure, who looks the part, although it’s been said he could perhaps benefit from adding some weight. He has long arms and a huge wingspan, albeit that his hands are a below average size.
His athletic profile is tremendous. He made headlines at the combine when he posted a 4.61 time in the 40-yard dash and posted 24 bench press reps, both of which put him in the top-two of all combine participants at his position in 2022.
He then did the explosiveness and agility drills at his pro day and again posted elite numbers with his vertical and agility numbers being even better than those of Kyle Pitts.
Usage
Woods has the size to feature as a legitimate inline tight end and that’s been his primary role at the NFL level, although he has plenty of experience and production in the slot and out wide.
In college, he had about a 40:40:20 ratio in terms of his inline, slot and wide reps. He also rushed twice for six yards.
As noted, he was a pocket passer in college.
Downfield threat
Woods is not a deep threat in terms of getting down the field but he has the ability to stretch the field down the seam with his long, lumbering strides.
His size makes him a good back shoulder or jump ball option but he only had a handful of downfield catches in college, having more success underneath and on intermediate routes.
Routes
As a route runner, Woods doesn’t really have the kind of burst or quick cut ability that is going to enable him to separate at the NFL level, but he is effective at using his big body to box out defenders or create natural separation by winning a leverage advantage and keeping them on his hip.
His releases and breaks are functional enough and he has plenty of success on crossing routes. Clearly this was a developing area of his skill-set as he entered the league.
Hands
Being somewhat new to the position, especially when considering the two years he missed due to injury and what that did to stymie his progress, it’s not surprising that Woods can look raw as a pass catcher at times with bobbles or body catches and some concentration drops.
Having said that, he shows flashes of real potential in some of his highlights, adjusting to the flight of the ball in the air, snatching it down with his large catch radius and regularly displaying strong hands to hold onto the ball with a defender draped all over him. He’s also made a few highlight-reel catches:
Red zone
The majority of Woods’ 11 touchdowns at the collegiate level, and all four of his touchdowns at the NFL level, including one in preseason, have come in the red zone as his size makes him a viable option on fades or finding space on play-action passes.
After the catch
In college, Woods was an effective weapon after the catch as he showcased an ability to run over smaller defenders.
He’s been less effective at breaking tackles at the pro level, where there are fewer defensive players he would have as much of a size difference over. However, he is effective at catching the ball and turning upfield and does run through arm tackles at times.
While he’s not elusive or a creative runner, if you get it to him short of the marker, his size and strength make him hard to stop from picking up the first down as he can drive players back in contact and fall forward at the end of a run.
He has had the ball stripped away from him a few times after making a catch, both in the pros and at the college level.
Run blocking
Woods was primarily a blocking specialist at Oklahoma State, but his performance grades on analytical sites such as Pro Football Focus tended to be below average throughout his college career.
At the NFL level, he’s established himself well in this area, though, with strength at the point of attack and an aggressive nature that sees him attack his blocks and play to the whistle.
His primary weakness in this area is that he can play with a narrow base at times, but adding further strength since becoming a pro will have helped him in that area.
Since getting playing time with the Jets, Woods has acquitted himself well as a run blocker as he had a key block on Isaiah Davis’ 24-yard touchdown run in the Jaguars game, and a couple of other good inline blocks.
Pass blocking
Woods hasn’t been employed as a pass blocker much at the NFL level yet and it’s an area where he struggled at times in college, allowing three sacks.
On this play, he pulls across the formation but fails to get in front of the pass rusher and allows a pressure.
Physicality
Woods uses his size well in the aggressive nature of his blocking, when running routes and as a ball carrier.
He has good numbers on contested catches and is strong at the catch-point, although he needs to be more careful about not pushing off.
Special teams
Woods only has limited experience on special teams, although he had an effective double-team block on Isaiah Williams’ 42-yard kickoff return in the Saints game.
Blocking on the kick return unit has been his primary role but he also contributed in punt protection in college.
He shows good aggression to get after his man on this kick return blocking assignment.
Instincts
Woods’ previous experience as a quarterback has helped him become adept at learning offensive systems and adapting to new schemes, with his coaches at Oklahoma State praising his football IQ.
On the field, he has a knack for reading coverages and finding gaps in the defense.
He had a false start in a preseason game, but that’s been his only penalty at the NFL level in regular or preseason action.
At Oklahoma State, he was named as an all-Big 12 academic second team selection in 2020 and then at Virginia, having already graduated, he was named as a 2021 ACC all-academic selection. He was also selected to the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society.
Attitude
Woods deserves credit for his dedication to get back onto the field after two tough injury-plagued seasons. He worked hard to rehab and was said to have a calm approach to the uphill climb he faced to return to the Colts rotation in 2025.
His teammate Mo-Alie Cox specifically cited his “contagious energy” and “dog mentality” in terms of what he brings to the locker room and practice field.
Woods’ on-field discipline has been solid recently. After committing eight penalties in three years with the Cowboys, he had no penalties at Virginia and only has one at the NFL level, in a preseason game.
Injuries
Injuries weren’t a major concern for Woods in college, or in his first season as he missed just two games due to a shoulder injury.
However, he suffered a pulled hamstring in OTAs ahead of his second season, which he reinjured in training camp. Then when he was ready to return from that he tore his other hamstring and ended up spending the entire year on injured reserve.
He was healthy at the start of training camp in 2024, but then suffered a significant turf toe injury in preseason which ended up sidelining him for the entire season again after surgery.
Scheme fit
As noted, Woods is quick to pick up systems and versatile enough to play various roles. However, he hasn’t been able to earn any significant playing time with Andrew Beck and Stone Smartt seemingly ahead of him behind the starters Taylor and Jeremy Ruckert.
He has been a teammate of current Jets Adonai Mitchell, Khalil Herbert and Sam Womack while with the Colts.
Conclusions
When the Jets acquired Woods, this was a pickup that excited the fanbase, who were expecting him to be an upgrade over the disappointing Ruckert. However, Ruckert has had his best season this year and recently earned a two-year extension. This, together with Taylor’s emergence, has meant there aren’t many reps available for the likes of Woods on offense.
Woods is out of contract at the end of the season, but so are Beck and Smartt, so it will be interesting to see who from this trio is back.
The hope when the Jets got Woods was that he was a player with untapped potential, which seems to fit in with the profile of the kinds of players they have tried to bring in this year, albeit with mixed results.
With his solid contributions as a blocker, Woods has already shown that he’s a capable player to fill in at the tight end position, but it will have been frustrating to him and the team that he hasn’t had a chance to build on the pass catching promise of his rookie season, for the third year in a row.
Taylor might be back this week so Woods may unfortunately never get that chance unless they make a concerted effort to involve him in the last two games. Even if they do, Woods will likely need to split opportunities with Smartt so he could be a long-shot to stick around.
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