Excitement Surrounding Jelani Woods in Second Season as a Cowboy Back

Last year Mike Gundy mentioned the next season would likely be a breakout year for Jelani Woods. That next season is Friday.

Woods’ transition from quarterback to Cowboy back was an exciting one. With his 6-foot-7 frame, Woods made for an exciting quarterback prospect, but that frame with the 30 pounds he has added since making the switch make for an even more exciting tight end.

He wasn’t used all that much in his redshirt freshman season, but his 17.14 yards per reception ranked second among OSU pass catchers with at least five receptions, trailing only Tylan Wallace. Woods finished his redshirt freshman season having played in 11 games with seven receptions for 120 yards and two scores.

It’s been since 2016 when OSU regularly used a Cowboy back in its passing attack. That season, Blake Jarwin had 19 catches for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Sure, Jarwin had more than double the catches than Woods had last season, but Woods had a higher yards per and scored the same amount of touchdowns.

Although Gundy has talked a lot about new offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson having to form to OSU’s offense instead of the other way around, apparently the way Gleeson has used that playbook to this point has been more favorable to Woods’ position group.

“As a group, I feel like we’re doing really well,” Woods said. “Coach Gleeson is doing a good job implementing us into the offense more, and I feel like we’re going to come out and do pretty good this year.”

Blocking is an obvious point of concern when a quarterback moves to another position, but again, Woods has gained 30 pounds. He said he is getting more used to using all of his 265 pounds to his advantage.

“I feel like I’m doing better,” Woods said. “After getting in the weight room, I’ve increased my strength. I feel like it’s applying well.”

As Cedar Grove’s quarterback as a high school senior, Woods led his team to its first state championship after throwing for 2,316 yards and 26 touchdowns. Again, Gundy has stressed that Gleeson has learned OSU’s offense as opposed to OSU learning Gleeson’s. However, this is what Gleeson said when specifically asked of his tight end’s history as a quarterback.

“So, if you look at the Harvard vs. Princeton 2017 game up there in Cambridge, a wide out threw a touchdown pass,” Gleeson said. “So, it’s not out of the bag of tricks, but again, it’s all just trying to get the guys to make some plays. We got a left-hander, right-hander, whatever it is, we need to score some touchdowns. I’m inspecting all areas and all abilities.”