Woodaz says he's ready to take a step forward this season

Wade Woodaz dazzled early in fall camp a year ago and rode that momentum into a solid freshman season.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Apr 25 07:00:17 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – Wade Woodaz dazzled early in fall camp a year ago and rode that momentum into a solid freshman season. Now he’s ready to take the next step.

Woodaz quickly earned a starting spot on special teams last August and then found himself playing both linebacker and safety. He enters 2023 credited with 20 tackles (5.5 for loss), 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a blocked punt in 180 snaps from scrimmage over 14 games (one start) as a freshman in 2022.

Not bad for a player who was sure he was going to redshirt.

“I came in, and I was like, man, I am going to redshirt; there’s no way I’ll play at all,” Woodaz said. “I wasn’t recruited highly coming out of high school. I was like, I’m going to come in and redshirt, probably. And then fall camp started, and I was like, oh wait, why am I only behind Barrett (Carter)? Barrett was the only person in front of me, and I was like, maybe I might be playing a little bit, and then you look up on the board in special teams meetings, and I was first on the depth chart, and I was like, oh okay, I guess I am going to be playing this year.”

Woodaz, who now stands right at 6-4 and hopes to weigh around 225 pounds by the start of the season, said he learned a lot from Trenton Simpson last season. Simpson parlayed his versatility into what will likely be a draft spot at some point in the first two rounds in the NFL Draft this weekend.

“I learned a good amount,” Woodaz said of Simpson. “Trenton is a freak athlete. All the guys in the linebacker room really helped me learn the defense a lot. From Trenton, I probably learned technical stuff, because that dude can get after the quarterback. So, that’s probably what I learned the most from him.”

Woodaz should see time at different spots again this season.

“I think that’s my best attribute, versatility,” he said. “I’m very thankful from God and my parents for giving me the ability with my body to be able to do that, but it’s fun. I love being able to be plugged in wherever. I can go play man on a tight end or I could go back and play deep safety, and then I go could down and blitz the A gap. I take pride in being able to play multiple positions. I don’t want to be one stationary guy. If you look at our entire ‘backer room, we can all be plugged in everywhere. So, I’m sure Coach Wes (Goodwin) will have a lot of fun with different packages and what not.”

Now? It’s time to take another big step forward in his development.

“I just want to fine-tune the little details,” Woodaz said. “Obviously, get better at coverage. I feel like I’m pretty good at it, but there’s always room for improvement. Rushing the passer is one area that I really want to take the next step and be a force there. If I can beat the offensive tackle one-on-one, then there’s really nothing I can’t do.”