David Woodward declares for draft
Five days after his teammate Jordan Love, an all-time quarterback for Utah State, declared for the 2020 NFL draft, David Woodward, an all-time linebacker for the Aggies, made the same choice. Both linebacker and QB will forego their senior seasons to chase gridiron glory on football’s greatest stage.
In a post on Twitter, Woodward said “playing Division I football for the Aggies has been a dream come true, but I am ready for my next challenge.”
Via David Woodward’s Twitter account.
Following Utah State’s game against Nevada on Oct. 19, head coach Gary Andersen announced that Woodward would miss the rest of the season with an undisclosed injury.
“When I took the field with by brothers against Nevada on Oct. 10, I didn’t know that would be my last time playing at (Maverick Stadium),” Woodward said in the post. “But (The HURD) made playing there on Saturday nights something special.”
Despite missing the final six games of the season, Woodward is still the leading tackler on the team both in total stops (93) and solo tackles (53). He had four forced fumbles, also most on the team, and recorded one of the two defensive touchdowns Utah State has this season. Had he not suffered the season-ending injury and maintained his statistical pace, Woodward would have broken Tony D’Amato’s USU single-season tackles record of 170.
Woodward had two main playing seasons in his four years at Utah State. After a redshirt year and a season where he appeared in barely half of the team’s games, the Olympia, Washington native got his chance, starting Week 1 as a sophomore.
Immediately, Woodward made an impact, recording 16 tackles in USU’s close loss at Michigan State. That wound up being one of his eight games in 2018 with at least 10 tackles. By the end of the year, Woodward caught the attention of national outlets, being named a Pro Football Focus First-Team All-American along with PFF’s Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. He was also named to the Associated Press Third-Team All-America squad and Phil Steele’s First-Team All-Mountain West.
Despite an incomplete 2019 season, Woodward still made First-Team All-Mountain West after being snubbed for the honor in 2018.
The NFL Draft will take place April 23-25 with the first round on the 23rd, the second and third rounds on the 24th and rounds four through seven on the 25th.