Watched Jayden Woods last night. Really impressed with the kid, who is a truly natural edge rusher. There are plenty of high school kids that get placed on the edge simply because they're big and athletic, and the edge gives them plenty of opportunity to impact the game. That's not the case with Woods, who is dextrous and fluid in the way he operates. He's not a kid who's been shoehorned into the position. He's quick off the line, nasty in the trenches and uses his hands well. Looks like a top-150 player to my eye.
Still really like where Oklahoma stands early in this process with the blue-chip defender from Shawnee (Kan.) Mill Valley. This appears to be a recruitment that will have some parallels to that of Michael Boganowski, as I expect the in-state schools to remain heavy considerations. Woods is a Kansas State legacy and has been on campus with the Wildcats multiple times. He's also high on Kansas and it's very easy for him to head up the road to that campus. But the two out-of-state programs that appear best positioned right now are Oklahoma and Oregon, the latter of which has leveraged Dan Lanning's history in the KC area. Woods told me he plans to commit pretty early, and that he'll likely have the decision out of the way before next summer. People and relationships are very important to him, and he also emphasized that everyone in his circle is hands-off in the decision-making process. They all want him to make the call without any external opinions involved. I've been toying with a FutureCast for a couple of months here and I'm not confident enough just yet to make the prediction, but this is a recruitment I'll be watching closely throughout the late fall and winter.
