I like the look of Jelani Woods. He’s on my list of prospects to potentially select as my second tight end.
Tight end is a traits position, and physically this guy is up there with the likes of Rob Gronkowski and Dallas Goedert. At 6-foot-7 and with long arms, he’s one of those guys who can be a really tough matchup for smaller defensive backs (as shown in the photo, where he’s coming down with a touchdown against Kansas City).
Admittedly, I can’t at this point guarantee Woods will do much of anything. Let’s see what the new coaching staff thinks of him, and whether he can continue to develop. But I liked some of what I saw last year. He didn’t play at that much, but he caught 3 TDs early in the year. Late in the season, they moved him into the starting lineup for the Pittsburgh game, and he caught 8 passes in that one (in that game, there was also a near-touchdown where Minkah Fitzpatrick interfered with him at the goal line).
With that height, Woods might be their primary receiving target around the end zone.
He did not, of course, compile many stats as a rookie – just 25 receptions for 312 yards and 3 TDs. He got on the field for over half of their plays four times, all late in the season. But that does not disqualify him from perhaps developing into something. Below see the other 31 tight ends in the 32-team era who caught 20-30 passes in their rookie season. All of these players ranked between 20th and 49th among tight ends for the season (using PPR scoring). Only 10 of them ranked in the top 30.
If we look at home those 31 tight ends fared in their second seasons, 12 of them moved up to posting top-15 numbers (albeit with just 2 in the top 10). I see some notable players at the position in there, including Antonio Gates, Alge Crumpler, Dallas Clark, Vernon Davis and Kyle Rudolph.
As a group, these 31 tight ends in their second seasons caught 216 more passes for 2,605 more yards and 36 more touchdowns. And Woods to me looks like a tight end who’ll similarly be getting more involved in his second season.
I wish I had more confidence in the team around him, but I will definitely have eyes on Jelani Woods in the preseason. (Another rookie tight end, Daniel Bellinger, also landed in the 20-30 catch window last year, but I see his future more as a blocker than a pass catcher.)
| ROOKIE TIGHT ENDS WITH 20-30 receptions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Rookie Yr | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2002 | • Alge Crumpler, Atl. | 25-330-3 | 36 | 455 | 5 | 111.5 | 10 |
| 2003 | Matt Schobel, Cin. | 27-212-2 | 24 | 332 | 2 | 69.2 | 23 |
| 2003 | Jerramy Stevens, Sea. | 26-252-3 | 6 | 72 | 0 | 13.2 | 70 |
| 2004 | • Antonio Gates, S.D. | 24-389-2 | 81 | 964 | 13 | 255.4 | 2 |
| 2004 | • L.J. Smith, Phil. | 27-321-1 | 34 | 377 | 5 | 101.7 | 13 |
| 2004 | • Dallas Clark, Ind. | 29-340-1 | 25 | 423 | 5 | 97.3 | 15 |
| 2006 | Adam Bergen, Ariz. | 28-270-1 | 15 | 111 | 1 | 32.1 | 48 |
| 2007 | • Vernon Davis, S.F. | 20-265-3 | 52 | 509 | 4 | 126.9 | 12 |
| 2007 | Joe Klopfenstein, St.L. | 20-226-1 | 2 | 37 | 1 | 11.7 | 76 |
| 2009 | Martellus Bennett, Dall. | 20-283-4 | 15 | 159 | 0 | 30.9 | 54 |
| 2010 | • Brandon Pettigrew, Det. | 30-346-2 | 71 | 722 | 4 | 167.2 | 8 |
| 2010 | Zach Miller, Jac. | 21-212-2 | 20 | 216 | 1 | 48.5 | 43 |
| 2011 | Andrew Quarless, G.B. | 21-238-1 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 6.6 | 83 |
| 2012 | • Kyle Rudolph, Min. | 26-249-3 | 53 | 493 | 9 | 158.3 | 11 |
| 2012 | Lance Kendricks, St.L. | 28-352-0 | 42 | 519 | 4 | 119.9 | 22 |
| 2013 | • Coby Fleener, Ind. | 26-281-2 | 52 | 608 | 4 | 140.8 | 14 |
| 2014 | Luke Willson, Sea. | 20-272-1 | 22 | 362 | 3 | 76.2 | 28 |
| 2015 | • Richard Rodgers, G.B. | 20-225-2 | 58 | 510 | 8 | 160.1 | 11 |
| 2015 | • Eric Ebron, Det. | 25-248-1 | 47 | 537 | 5 | 130.7 | 13 |
| 2015 | Austin Seferian-Jenkins, T.B. | 21-221-2 | 21 | 338 | 4 | 78.8 | 32 |
| 2016 | Clive Walford, Oak. | 28-329-3 | 33 | 359 | 3 | 86.9 | 31 |
| 2018 | • O.J. Howard, T.B. | 26-432-6 | 34 | 565 | 5 | 120.5 | 15 |
| 2019 | • Mike Gesicki, Mia. | 22-202-0 | 51 | 570 | 5 | 138.0 | 12 |
| 2019 | Jordan Thomas, Hou. | 20-215-4 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1.8 | 108 |
| 2020 | Dawson Knox, Buff. | 28-388-2 | 24 | 288 | 3 | 70.8 | 35 |
| 2020 | Foster Moreau, L.V. | 21-174-5 | 7 | 140 | 2 | 33.0 | 60 |
| 2021 | Cole Kmet, Chi. | 28-243-2 | 60 | 612 | 0 | 121.2 | 21 |
| 2021 | Harrison Bryant, Cle. | 24-238-3 | 21 | 233 | 3 | 62.3 | 39 |
| 2022 | Tommy Tremble, Car. | 20-180-1 | 19 | 174 | 3 | 54.4 | 46 |
| 2022 | John Bates, Was. | 20-249-1 | 14 | 108 | 1 | 30.8 | 64 |
| 2022 | Brevin Jordan, Hou. | 20-178-3 | 14 | 128 | 0 | 26.8 | 69 |
| 2023 | Daniel Bellinger, NYG | 30-268-2 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2023 | Jelani Woods, Ind. | 25-312-3 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan