2019 Season Countdown: #32 J’Marick Woods
Name: J’Marick Woods
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 210 lbs.
High school: Florence (AL) Florence
Position: Safety
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #26
Last year: I ranked Woods #42 and said he would be a backup safety and special teamer (LINK). He made 13 tackles and 1 blocked punt.
TTB Rating: 80
Woods came into the 2018 season as a guy with a reputation for being a heavy hitter and run supporter, but a guy who couldn’t be trusted a ton in coverage. Tyree Kinnel and Josh Metellus handled most of the safety snaps, with Brad Hawkins stepping in to handle most of the coverage duties when necessary. We always knew Woods was a bit of a project when it came to being an all-around safety. Woods had a big punt block against Florida, but otherwise he didn’t accomplish a lot of noteworthy achievements as a sophomore.
J'Marick Woods (@WoodsJmarick) blocks the punt and Jordan Glasgow recovers. Michigan has the ball at the Florida 30-yard line with 7:54 left in the first half. pic.twitter.com/yz1XqvgNbx
— Evan Petzold (@EvanPetzold) December 29, 2018
The 2019 story might be different. With Kinnel having graduated, there’s an open safety spot. Freshman safeties are dodgy, so Woods and Hawkins seem to be in a race for that starting position. Based on practice reports and coach talk, it seems like they want to give Woods every opportunity to be the guy. I would not be surprised to see the two play a pretty equal number of snaps, because they offer different strengths. That’s why they’re ranked back-to-back here in the countdown. Safeties seem to really come into their own as junior and seniors, so this competition ought to breed some pretty good play.
Prediction: Starting safety; 45 tackles