Virginia heads into this weekend’s clash with Georgia Tech riding high, on a three-game winning streak. The Cavalier passing game has been the engine driving the team’s success this season, led by Brennan Armstrong, who is on pace to smash a bunch of program passing records if he keeps the current pace.
While Armstrong has been excellent, a lot of credit should also go to the weapons around him. UVa’s group of receivers has been the best Cavalier fans have seen in some time, and that’s without Lavel Davis, who hasn’t played this season after a monster freshman campaign last fall.
One of Armstrong’s most-valuable weapons this season has been tight end Jelani Woods, who transferred in from Oklahoma State this spring. Woods hasn’t been totally healthy to this point, but has still made a mark in every game that he has played, and brings a unique skillset to the Cavalier offense.
In this week’s film room, we take a look at how Woods has impacted the UVa offense, and why the best may be yet to come for the transfer tight end.
Performance and Utilization
Woods has really only played five full games to this point. He was pulled early in the season-opener against William and Mary, and missed the Miami game with a foot or ankle injury. But in his five full games, Woods has made a big impact. The 6-foot-7 tight end has caught a touchdown in each of those five games, making him second on the team in touchdowns behind Dontayvion Wicks. For the season, Woods has recorded 23 receptions for 315 yards, averaging 315 yards per catch.
Woods’ best game came in the win over Illinois, when he hauled in five passes for 122 yards and a score. Woods has four games with 47 receiving yards or more, and is coming off of a five-catch, 58 yard effort against Duke last weekend. For comparison, UVa’s 2020 tight end, Tony Poljan, caught 38 passes for 411 yards and six touchdowns in ten games last year. Woods is on track to surpass those numbers relatively easily, given he stays healthy.
Woods has graded out well, too. PFF gives Woods an overall grade of 74.9, which ranks sixth on the team, fifth among regular starters. Woods has a so-so run-block grade, but has been excellent when used in pass protection.
Woods does most of his damage in the middle of the field, between the numbers. Poljan had a similar track record last year, so there are some similarities between how the two tight ends have been deployed. Woods has been targeted 38 times this season, and 33 of those routes have been between the numbers. On those plays, Woods has hauled in 20 receptions for 284 yards and four touchdowns. Woods has also done a nice job creating yards after the catch down the middle, with 86 YAC on those 20 grabs. As far as depth is concerned, Woods is making a lot of plays at the second level of the defense, on throws between 10 and 20 yards downfield. There, Woods has a staggering 99.1 receiving grade, which is the best I’ve ever seen for such a sample size. Woods has 11 catches for 199 yards and two touchdowns on these intermediate throws. Most of Woods’ short-range targets have been in the red zone, where the ball can only go so far. Woods has been targeted deep down the field five times, with just one catch for a touchdown against Illinois.
As far as alignment goes, Woods has been lined up “inline,” on most snaps, the typical tight end position. Woods has lined up in the slot a handful of times in most games, including 10 snaps there against UNC. The transfer tight end has lined up out wide a few times here and there, and has two snaps in the backfield as well. None of this is out of line for how UVa has used tight ends in the past, in terms of alignment. The difference comes when they deploy their big, physical target in space and let him make plays.
