Wade
Woodaz.
Wade
Woodaz.
Clemson· 6'3"· 234 lb· 4.52s 40
R4 · #123 · Houston Texans"Long, high-motor LB/S hybrid whose 2024 tape screamed modern chess piece and whose flat 2025 leap left him a versatile core-teamer with sub-package upside."Pre-draft read
Wade Woodaz aligns as a stack-and-shed, weak-side linebacker, with the flexibility to walk down into the slot or drop as a big nickel. His primary win is range, flowing sideline to sideline with clean angles, tracking the ball with his eyes to the backfield and finishing with length outside his frame. His secondary win is a natural feel for coverage, gaining depth in zone, mirroring from the hip in short man, and high-pointing the football with defensive back hands.
The rush toolbox is developing, with an ability to bend the arc on green-dog blitzes and threaten the pocket using a quick get-off. However, his play strength lags his frame, often resulting in slow sheds. He tends to play high at the point of attack and lacks true "thump" when engaging head-on between the tackles.
The Houston Texans will value Woodaz as a sub-package Cover-3 Will who excels at dropping into coverage and flowing sideline-to-sideline, using his range to make plays in space.
Year 1 will be spent as a core-four special teamer with sub-package usage as a Cover-3 Will, eventually developing into a starter if his play strength improves.
Any gap-scheme or 3-4 two-gap defense where he is routinely asked to take on interior blockers head-up and shed blocks to make tackles.
Woodaz is a high-upside developmental linebacker whose value is tied to his coverage ability and range in space, making him an ideal fit for a Cover-3 system.
Wade Woodaz 2025 Regular Season Highlights | Clemson Linebacker
Wade Woodaz 2024 Regular Season Highlights | Clemson Safety
Wade Woodaz 2023 Regular Season Highlights | Clemson LB
Wade Woodaz projects as a sub-package weak-side linebacker and core special teamer whose 4.52 speed and coverage versatility offer a specific role for a defense. His value lies in his ability to flow sideline to sideline and defend the pass with length, making him a fit for schemes that prioritize speed and coverage over brute force in their off-ball linebackers.
A four-year contributor at Clemson, Woodaz was deployed as a hybrid linebacker and big-nickel safety, accumulating 201 career tackles, 28.5 for loss, and nine sacks. While a 2024 season with 83 tackles and 10 TFL highlighted his range, his 2025 senior tape saw a plateau in production, compounded by a season-ending shoulder injury. He led the ACC in interception-return yards in 2023, showcasing his ball-hawking ability.
Evaluator concern centered on a "tweener" label, as his physical profile and play strength left questions about his fit as a full-time stack linebacker. Despite a college career with 51 games and notable production, the 2025 injury and static tape tempered expectations. Consensus placed him as a late-Day 3 prospect, with the Houston Texans selecting him as the 123rd overall pick in the fourth round.
- 01
Exceptional Range
Wade Woodaz demonstrates exceptional range, flowing sideline-to-sideline with clean angles to track the ball.
- 02
Coverage Feel
Wade Woodaz displays a natural feel for coverage, gaining depth in zone and mirroring from the hip in short man.
- 03
Ball-hawking Ability
Wade Woodaz led the ACC in interception-return yards in 2023, showcasing ball-hawking ability.
- 04
Rush Toolbox
Wade Woodaz has a developing rush toolbox, able to bend the arc and threaten the pocket with a quick get-off.
- 05
Versatile Deployment
Wade Woodaz was deployed as a hybrid linebacker and big-nickel safety, accumulating 201 tackles, 28.5 TFL, and 9 sacks.
- 01
Lacks Play Strength
Wade Woodaz's play strength lags his frame, often resulting in slow sheds when engaging blockers.
- 02
Plays High
Wade Woodaz tends to play high at the point of attack, often getting rooted out of run fits by offensive linemen.
- 03
Lacks Thump
Wade Woodaz lacks true thump when engaging head-on between the tackles, making him less impactful in run defense.
- 04
Production Plateau
Wade Woodaz's 2025 senior tape saw a plateau in production, compounded by a season-ending shoulder injury.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.52sp50
- Vertical
- —in
- Broad jump
- 117inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.27sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.50sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Clemson | 14 | 12 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | Clemson | 13 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Clemson | 12 | 75 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2025 | Clemson | 12 | 70 | 0.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Career | — | 51 | 183 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Sub-package linebacker whose range and coverage flex outrun his stack-and-shed limits, holding down 30-40 defensive snaps plus core teams.
Hybrid weakside/nickel LB flex with closing burst; Luvu had a nastier finish downhill but the alignment portfolio is the aspirational match.
Special-teams-first NFL life with limited defensive shelf; the Steelers Depot comp on the floor, matching the frame and motor without a defensive breakout.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context: Woodaz arrived at Clemson as a three-star Tampa Jesuit captain who chose the Tigers over Utah, Iowa, TCU and Miami, then spent four years bouncing between weakside linebacker and big-nickel safety in a collegiate defensive scheme. He hit the radar as a sophomore with a 47-yard pick-six against Charleston Southern and led the ACC in interception-return yards, then broke out as a junior in 2024 with 83 tackles, 10 TFL, three forced fumbles and one of the more highlight-friendly range profiles in the conference — a Stanford snap where he plucked the ball outside his frame lived on evaluator reels all winter. Boards expected a first-round leap and never got it: 2025 stalled at 70 tackles and 0.5 sacks before a shoulder injury ended his year, and the combine (4.52, 7.27 three-cone, 32 5/8-inch arms, DNP vertical and bench) confirmed the tweener label rather than dispelling it. Steelers Depot's late-Day-3/UDFA range mirrored the room.
NFL fit — Houston Texans: Houston took him at 123 in the fourth after moving on from parts of their off-ball rotation and needing depth behind Azeez Al-Shaair. The realistic year-one job is core-four special teams and a sub-package WILL role where the defensive system can hide the play strength and lean on the range — dime looks, hook/curl drops, green-dog blitzes off the slot. His length and coverage feel travel; his ability to hold up on a 260-pound tight end climbing to the second level on gap runs is the question the reps have to answer. The E.J. Speed quad tear reported in May thinned the room further, which should push his defensive snap count higher than a normal fourth-rounder's opening slate.
Retrospective: Too early to grade — he is a July 2026 rookie who has not taken an NFL snap. The evaluation to track is whether the sub-package coverage flex and captain-grade special-teams motor stack into a five-plus-year Frankie Luvu-lite career, or whether the play strength ceiling holds him to the Miles Burris core-teamer arc Steelers Depot floored him at. The 2024 tape is real; the 2025 flatline is real; the fit is friendly.