Welcome to Gator Nation, Jayden Woods! (Photo via 247Sports)
Happy Black Friday, Gator Nation! As tends to happen in college football: as the Florida Gators heat up on the field, the results are starting to be reflected in recruiting. And now, Billy Napier is starting to take top prospects away from more powerful schools.
Jayden Woods, a consensus four-star defensive end from Shawnee, KS/Mill Ridge High School, has flipped from Penn State to Florida. He initially committed to Penn State on June 19 and seemed pretty solid there for months, especially as Penn State began– and kept– winning. The news seems to have taken those in Penn State circles by surprise, even given that the Nittany Lions do have a few other defensive ends in the class, as Woods was the highest rated of them all and was the third highest rated recruit in their class.
The 6’3, 240 Woods also had offers from Alabama, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Michigan, Miami, Oklahoma, LSU, Oregon, Washington, USC, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, and many, many more. The 247Sports Composite ranking system rates him as the #130 prospect in the class, and the #10 defensive end. Similarly, the On3 Industry ranking rates him as as the #116 prospect and the #14 edge.
You can watch his high school highlight tape here.
The impressive tape Woods puts out begins with his physical strength. He fires out of his stance and can hit opponents like a falling boulder. Because of this, though he does have some nice pass-rush moves, he doesn’t really have to use them a ton in Kansas high school ball. That’s not going to be the case in the SEC, obviously, so he’s going to have to work on developing a true swim and rip move.
But Woods is very technically sound in a lot of other ways, too, making me logically believe he can pick up this skill set pretty seamlessly. As a tackler, he’s proven able to disengage from blocks and then transition from “disengagement of the block” mode and right into “delivering the vicious hit” mode. Woods also wrestles for his high school, further helping with his tackling abilities and further helping me believe he can pick up the pass-rush abilities with ease.
And the physical prowess he comes with is scary. He’s versatile as an athlete, meaning he can play a little linebacker as well if he has to, and there’s one play on his tape where he starts there, immediately diagnoses the run, throws a blocker to the ground like a doll, and covers about 30 yards of terrain to make a violent tackle. He’ll probably need some time to acclimate himself to SEC ball, but he’s only going to get bigger and stronger at Florida, of course, and if he can truly develop that pass rushing ability from a technical side, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with as a multi-year starter.
The addition of Jayden Woods continues the Gators’ ascent up the class rankings. Ranked #51 in the 247Sports Composite rankings and #33 in the On3 Industry rankings, Florida has now shot up to #15 in both ranking systems as a result of a whole bucket of flips, most notably Ty Jackson. And with only 20 commits, there’s plenty of room for the Gators to climb even higher. A top five class is likely out of the realm of possibility, but the Gators can still very plausibly finish inside the top ten.
And even if Florida’s class ultimately finishes at #11 or #12– no, it still won’t be where the Gators should be finishing, but it’s close enough that Billy Napier can then go and supplement it with enough pieces in the portal to make sure that the Gators are all set to compete in the next year or two.
Either way, this is shaping up to be one of the best finishes to a recruiting class in recent memory. And yes, that’s due in part to the fact that it was in tatters to begin with, which isn’t acceptable, but maybe this truly is a case of people learning lessons and being better because of them.
