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Jelani Woods, Kenneth Edison-McGruder to Return to Old Positions in 2018

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A pair of Cowboys are throwing it back to their high school days. Senior linebacker Kenneth Edison-McGruder and quarterback Jelani Woods are moving to positions they played in high school.

Edison-McGruder, a former four-star safety from Alief Taylor High School, played linebacker for OSU during the past couple of seasons and has been a constant contributor. He started in five games last year, and probably would have started more had he not been injured.

“Our defense is all about being aggressive and attacking,” Edison-McGruder said. “So I just get to be aggressive at safety on this defense … Football is football, if I’m playing safety or linebacker. I enjoy being back a little bit so I can see things, but football is football. Still gotta run and tackle.”

The Cowboys will be without former seniors Tre Flowers and Ramon Richards, who were leaders for OSU’s defense last season. Edison-McGruder said a lot of younger players looked up to Flowers and Richards, along with former defensive backs Ashton Lampkin and Jordan Sterns, who departed for the NFL in 2017.

“They helped me out,” Edison-McGruder said. “And being able to be in a leadership role now is great.”

The 6-foot-7, 260-pound Jelani Woods is reverting back to tight end, a position he played previously, but this time with a special OSU twist.

Woods, a massive former quarterback prospect, is making the switch to Cowboy Back as we reported several months ago, OSU’s unique fullback-tight end hybrid position. Gundy said he believes Woods’ long-term future lies at the Cowboy Back position, and added he played quarterback for only his final couple years of high school.

Gundy is a fan of Woods’ length and athletic ability and said this will be a growing and learning year.

“Whatever we get out of him this first year is a bonus. But I would expect at this time next year that you’ll start to see him and some big-time improvement.”

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