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Indianapolis Colts: Devastating Injury Creates Opportunity for Intriguing Rookie
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
Get to know Tim Crean betterPublished18 Aug 2022
The Indianapolis Colts have a new quarterback in Matt Ryan, and the big question is, who will his primary weapons be in 2022? We know about Jonathan Taylor in the backfield and Michael Pittman Jr., and second-round pick Alec Pierce at wide receiver. The tight end spot is still up in the air, though. Undrafted rookie Drew Ogletree looked like he could win the job, but after his devastating injury, third-round pick Jelani Woods now has a big opportunity.
Jelani Woods could now be the Indianapolis Colts starting tight end
The star of Indianapolis Colts training camp was Drew Ogletree. The undrafted TE out of Youngstown State was tearing up Colts training camp and quickly making a name for himself in his first season of pro football.
Unfortunately for Ogletree and the Colts, the young pass-catcher tore his ACL in practice and is now on IR for the 2022 season.
Jelani Woods is a 6-foot-7, 253-pound tight end from Virginia. He was a top-25 quarterback prospect coming out of high school in Georgia but moved to TE after signing with Oklahoma State, per NFL.com. Woods was a Big 12 all-conference honorable mention in his first year playing the position but eventually transferred to UVA.
As a Cavalier, Woods became a first-team All-ACC player in 2021 with 44 passes for 598 yards and eight touchdowns.
At the NFL Combine, the big man ran a 4.6 40-yard dash and put up 24 bench press reps. That was the most of any player at his position. This led to the Colts taking him No. 73 overall.
With Ogletree going down, Woods is now competing with incumbent veteran Mo Alie-Cox to be Matt Ryan’s primary TE. Alie-Cox is a four-year veteran. However, he’s never had more than 31 catches, four touchdowns, or over 391 yards in a season.
While not quite as impressive as Ogletree, Woods has also turned heads. His play has drawn praise from head coach Frank Reich, and Woods caught a TD against the Buffalo Bills in the first preseason game.
If Woods continues to learn the playbook and improves his blocking enough to help Jonathan Taylor dominate again this year, the Indianapolis Colts may have an incredibly exciting young tight end.
And if that’s the case, when Ogletree gets back in 2023, the franchise could have two.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference
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