The Cowboys drafted Xavier Woods in the 6th round on Saturday! They made a pretty bold move and used a 2018, 5th round pick to get this young man. Don’t fret folks, the team is looking at three to four compensatory picks next season, so this is a great move. Using one now shouldn’t hurt in the least. Apparently they had a 3rd round grade on him and there he was at the start of the 6th round. They were shut out in the 5th and that was painful enough to wait out, but Stephan orchestrated this move and while it seems simple, it was great to be aggressive with no downside. Be aware, Woods will be my Pet Cat this season to watch. Anthony Brown was that guy last year and he turned out pretty good so far.
I was watching this guy a few months back thanks to Bryan Broaddus & Dane Brugler (3-4th round grade) of The Draft Show on the team website. They really liked Xavier’s ability but you never know how the team looks at a given player. When you look at his Youtube highlights below you can see what he is capable of. There were a few things I really liked in those highlights. Most of all his awareness, a more rare gift than you’d think with a DB. Quick ability to read, react and blow the play up, one way or the other. You’ll see him separate the receiver from the ball several times and all hits are squared up at the numbers. He appears to be able to play down as a strong or back as a free. Position flex is there as a bonus. After looking at the video you wonder why did he last until the 6th round. Reasonable question and an important one as the answer lies in the fact that he played for a small school, Louisiana Tech. Lower level of competition, no question, its not the SEC or the Big 12. He’s not from Michigan, like Jourdan Lewis and Taco Charlton. It may take awhile until he can get snaps, but with his awareness that may not take all that long. In addition he has good speed for a safety, has a nose for the ball, able to blitz and his ball skills appear to pretty darn good. A few weakness are that he’s probably two inches shorter than you’d really like at 5’11” and a little light at 197. Lacks a real burst and he tends to hit without wrapping up at times. One thing I like in the few plays I see is that he takes good angles and that’s so important for a safety. We let one go who may have been one of the worst with angles. Won’t miss having that player looking around after a blown play or the two handed hand smacking.
PFF writer makes mention of Woods as one of his hidden gems in the mid to late rounds. I wasn’t high on the Boys going WR and a small one at that, in the 4th with Switzer. Nice player, Beasley like clone, punt returner specialist, but I was expecting Woods to be their choice, as safety was a bigger position of need, to me. Felt it was a missed opportunity to fortify the back end. When they pulled the move up, my first thoughts were, they got both positions dealt with. Win, win, hallelujah! I forgave them at that very moment. It will be fun watching Woods as a rookie in camp & preseason and see how he develops. If he can take some snaps with Heath, that would be great. Team / Bisaccia doesn’t want to lose Jeff from special teams play, so it would be good if they can get Woods into the rotation early and make full use of Heath as well.
