NFL Draft Profile: Jaiden Woodbey, Safety, Boston College

All of the NFL Boston College hype this season is surrounding star wide receiver Zay Flowers, but another Eagle that’s declared for this year’s NFL Draft is senior safety Jaiden Woodbey.

At Boston College

Woodbey initially played at Florida State, where he was signed as a 5-star recruit and was the 27th overall prospect in his class. He started all 12 games his freshman year and earned Freshman All-American honors. His sophomore season was cut short by a season-ending knee injury that had him carted off the field, and he wasn’t quite the same once he returned in 2020. This resulted in his decision to transfer to Boston College in 2020 to play for secondary-guru Jeff Hafley.

At BC, Woodbey started almost all of his games and earned two ACC Honorable Mentions at the end of each of his two seasons, recording in total 2 INTs, 2 fumble recoveries, 0.5 sacks, and several broken-up passes. He especially excelled at run support, racking up 103 tackles in two seasons as an Eagle, including 4.5 tackles for loss. His physicality is one of his greatest strengths, serving as a disruptor on all levels of the field by shedding blockers, pushing through traffic, and blowing up screens.

Importantly to add, Jaiden was a crucial team leader and veteran presence for the Eagles and earned a spot on the ACC Honor Roll multiple times throughout his collegiate career. Jeff Hafley trusted him as one of the leaders of his defense and his steady influence helped calm a team that was dangerously in flux for much of his tenure.

Scouts are generally positive about Woodbey’s skillset and see him as a versatile asset, but the main issue is that he is not truly great at any one aspect of his game that could make him a good NFL player. Most view him as coming up just short of a true NFL talent and he rather just slots into the mold of just a good college player whose physicality won’t stack up the same way against professionals. But once he is signed by an NFL franchise and goes through their training, conditioning, and coaching, it’s very possible that Woodbey could improve and prove his tenacity will convey in the NFL.

Draft projections

Woodbey has taken top-30 meetings with a couple of teams, meaning that there is some serious interest from NFL franchises in taking Woodbey in this year’s NFL Draft. The Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers both brought in the California native for a meeting, and it’s been reported that the Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, and Indianapolis Colts also have all shown interest.

That being said, Jaiden is not being projected favorably by most analysts in the media. NFL Draft experts have Woodbey being taken in the late 6th round in a best-case scenario, with many of them projecting him to be undrafted altogether. Even if he does end up without a team by the end of this weekend’s draft, Jaiden is certainly talented enough to land himself a contract as an undrafted free agent and will have the opportunity to earn a roster spot for this upcoming season.