Most essential Colts No. 9: Jelani Woods could be ready to break out

[JAFF]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...s/70348283007/


Here's the list so far:

No. 10: JuJu Brents, cornerback

No. 9: Jelani Woods, tight end

Position: Tight end

Age: 24

Experience: 2nd season

Accolades: 15 games, 25 catches, 312 yards, 3 touchdowns, 12.5 yards per catch in career

2022 stats: 15 games, 25 catches, 312 yards, 3 touchdowns, 12.5 yards per catch


Last year's rank: N/A

Why he's here: The Colts passing game is undergoing a youth movement. It's a collection of under-26 skill sets around Richardson, who possess length, size, speed and explosion, and perhaps no pass catcher has it more than Jelani Woods.

Last year's disruptions and team failure can make it easy to forget just how talented Woods was as a prospect. He measured in at 6-foot-7, with a 37.5-inch vertical jump, a 10-foot-9 broad jump, a 4.61-second 40-yard dash and a 6.95-second three-cone time -- all of which ranks in the top 10% of tight end prospects since 1987. Piece it all together, and Woods is arguably the most athletic tight end prospect in the history of football.


He lasted until the second round because he was just scratching the surface as a tight end who switched from quarterback to a blocking role and then to a receiving role at the University of Virginia. His rookie season showcased plenty of rawness. An up-and-down training camp limited his playing time early on. Then, after the Colts built a nice red-zone package for him that culminated with a game-winner to beat the Chiefs in Week 3, Woods saw some injuries and the instability of a quarterback position and offensive philosophy all take their toll, and he caught 25 passes on the season.

But he averaged 12.5 yards on those catches, which a monstrous number when you consider the Colts couldn't pass protect or throw much beyond 10 yards. A whopping 16 of his 25 catches went for first downs. The tight end room underperformed, but the most exciting part of it was Woods and the maturity he showed to work through early growing pains, organizational changes and the loss of two college teammates in a shooting at Virginia.



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Where that takes him in Year 2 will be fascinating. The Colts want to utilize tight ends more in the passing game under Shane Steichen, and Woods has the best skill set to take on the role that Dallas Goedert turned into more than 700 yards in each of the past two seasons. Woods isn't nearly as experienced or developed, so expecting those numbers would be a stretch.

But he does have a chance to flash on more explosive plays with a dual-threat quarterback who will run loads of play-action and extend passing plays as he scans for targets to throw to in space. If Woods can add the strength and technique to play more snaps as a blocker, he can round out a skill set that's as exciting as any in the Colts' passing game. If he does that, Richardson will start to showcase his immense upside as well.

If not, it could be another year of wondering where the tight end production is coming from, and it'll leave Richardson trying to do too much. In that way, Woods has the ability to save a passionate rookie from himself.