Jelani Woods (born October 9, 1998) is an American professional football tight end for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma State before transferring to Virginia for 2021, where he was named first-team All-ACC. Woods was drafted by the Colts in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft.
.jpg) Woods with the Indianapolis Colts in 2022 | |||||||||
| No. 80 – Indianapolis Colts | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | October 9, 1998 Ellenwood, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 253 lb (115 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Cedar Grove (Ellenwood, Georgia) | ||||||||
| College: |
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| NFL draft: | 2022 / round: 3 / pick: 73 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Injured reserve | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2024 | |||||||||
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Early life
editWoods grew up in Ellenwood, Georgia, and attended Cedar Grove High School. He played quarterback and passed for 1,992 yards with 20 touchdown passes against six interceptions in his junior season.[1] Woods was also named honorable mention All-State in basketball by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[2] As a senior, he was named honorable mention All-State and first-team All-Region 5 3A after passing for 2,316 yards and 26 touchdowns.[3] Woods was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Oklahoma State over offers from Michigan, Louisville, Kansas State, and South Carolina.[4][5]
College career
editWoods began his college career at Oklahoma State. He joined the team as an early enrollee and redshirted his freshman year and was moved from quarterback to tight end during the Cowboys practices leading up to the 2017 Camping World Bowl.[6][7] Woods finished his redshirt freshman season with seven receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns.[8] As a redshirt sophomore, he caught 16 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown and was an honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference selection.[9] Woods had eight receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown and was again named honorable mention All-Big 12 as a redshirt junior.[10]
Following the end of the season, Woods announced he would be transferring to Virginia Cavaliers as a graduate student.[11] He was named first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference after catching 44 passes for 598 yards and eight touchdowns.[12]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 7 1⁄8 in (2.01 m) |
253 lb (115 kg) |
34 1⁄8 in (0.87 m) |
9 1⁄4 in (0.23 m) |
4.61 s | 1.57 s | 2.62 s | 4.33 s | 6.95 s | 37.5 in (0.95 m) |
10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) |
24 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[13][14][15] | ||||||||||||
Woods was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the third round with the 73rd overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.[16][17] In Week 3, against the Kansas City Chiefs, Woods scored his first two professional touchdowns on his first two career receptions in a 20–17 victory.[18] He finished the season with 25 catches for 312 yards and three touchdowns.
On August 30, 2023, Woods was placed on injured reserve.[19]
On August 23, 2024, it was announced that Woods had undergone toe surgery and would miss roughly four months in recovery.[20]
References
edit- ^ Holcomb, Todd (August 2, 2016). "Top projected players by position: Golden era for QBs in Georgia". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ "2016 high school basketball all-state teams". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. March 25, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ Fredrickson, Kyle (January 17, 2017). "OSU football: Quarterback Jelani Woods a quick learner in music, football". The Oklahoman. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ Cooper, Mark (December 19, 2018). "National Signing Day: From New England to Southern California to Stillwater, for quarterback Brendan Costello, signing with Oklahoma State was about relationships". Tulsa World. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ Fredrickson, Kyle (May 16, 2016). "Oklahoma State football: 2017 quarterback commit Jelani Woods maturity defined by a brotherly love". The Oklahoman. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ Cooper, Mark (October 19, 2016). "This week in Oklahoma State football: Jelani Woods planning to enroll early". Tulsa World. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ Gillispie, Jimmy (August 24, 2018). "Redshirt freshman Jelani Woods transitions from quarterback to Cowboy back". NewsPress. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ Elmquist, Jason (August 29, 2019). "Woods ready to become next great Cowboy back". The Ada News. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ Bonner II, Frank (July 17, 2020). "OSU football: Jelani Woods named to the John Mackey Award watch list". Tulsa World. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ Wright, Scott (December 21, 2020). "OSU football: Jelani Woods enters transfer portal, per report". The Oklahoman. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ Barber, Mike (April 28, 2021). "Oklahoma State transfer Jelani Woods fills a big hole at tight end for UVA". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ "U.Va.'s Wicks, Woods make All-ACC football first team". The Virginian-Pilot. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ "Jelani Woods Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
- ^ "Jelani Woods, Virginia, TE, 2022 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
- ^ "Colts select Jelani Woods with No. 73 pick in 2022 draft". NFL.com. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ "2022 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
- ^ Stankevitz, JJ (April 29, 2022). "NFL Draft 2022: Colts Select Virginia Tight End Jelani Woods With No. 73 Overall Pick". Colts.com.
- ^ Boyd, James (September 26, 2022). "Why Colts rookie TE Jelani Woods' big day vs. Chiefs was extra special". The Athletic. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
- ^ "Colts re-sign WR Isaiah McKenzie; place TE Jelani Woods on IR". Colts.com. August 30, 2023.
- ^ Alper, Josh (August 23, 2024). "Colts TE Jelani Woods had toe surgery". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
Additional reading
edit- Andrew Moore, "Jelani Woods: Indianapolis Colts Rookie Files," Horseshoe Huddle, August 31, 2022.