increasingly get thinner<\/a>, another player has climbed up the depth chart to take over his former role within the safety group.<\/p>\nAdvertisement<\/p>\n
That player is rookie Craig Woodson. A fourth-round pick by the Patriots this spring, Woodson has effectively replaced Dugger with the top defense.<\/p>\n
At first, he started getting extra reps in select three-safety packages also featuring veterans Jabrill Peppers and Jaylinn Hawkins. Coming out of the preseason opener against the Washington Commanders, however, the 24-year-old has left no doubt about his role. He is now part of the top safety mix, much to the expense of the longest-tenured player on New England\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
For Woodson, his promotion also brings an increase in responsibility. Having played a multi-faceted role during his college career, he believes himself ready for whatever the coaching staff is asking him to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Cal, we kind of used to do everything,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo, for me, whether that\u2019s free or in the box, whatever it is, I\u2019m just ready for the challenge. Whatever position that the coaches want to put me in, I have to be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
In order to get ready, Woodson is not just relying on his own experience and his natural abilities. The 6-foot, 200-pound defender also is looking for any tips and tricks he can pick up from the Patriots\u2019 veteran safeties, a group including Kyle Dugger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose guys have been in the league for a long time,\u201d the youngster said. \u201cSo, just learning from them, asking them questions, being able to hear how the think and process the game, it helps me as a young guy who\u2019s trying to be in those shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woodson\u2019s ability to adapt to life in the NFL has led to his rise since the start of training camp. Beginning as a rotational fourth option behind the three vets higher up on the depth chart, he increased his exposure to a point where he now seems to firmly be ahead of Dugger.<\/p>\n
He also received quality opportunities in his lone preseason game so far. While not starting the Patriots\u2019 48-18 win over the Washington Commanders last Friday \u2014 Dugger was still the first man up at that point \u2014 he ended up playing a fairly high number of snaps. Woodson was on the field for 30 of them (42%), registering a pair of tackles as well as a quarterback hit.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
His impact on the Patriots extended beyond defense, though. Woodson also played 10 snaps in the kicking game (33%) and led with three special teams tackles. He furthermore was on the field for TreVeyon Henderson\u2019s 100-yard kickoff return touchdown to open the contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecial teams for a young guy is a way to earn a role on the team and have a spot on the 53-man roster,\u201d Woodson later said. \u201cFor me, special teams is important and is an extension of defense in a way. Being on there and being able to communicate at [personal protector], that\u2019s what\u2019s going to help the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he knows there is room for improvement heading toward preseason game No. 2 later this week \u2014 situational awareness was one area mentioned \u2014 Woodson seems poised for a prominent role as a rookie. At the moment, he is a four-unit special teamer as well as a top-three safety.<\/p>\n
He may not have the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of a Kyle Dugger, but he it certainly looks like he does have the coaching staff\u2019s trust. And at the end of the day, that is all that matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In an effort to rebuild the culture at One Patriot Place, new head coach Mike Vrabel moved on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[1846,7,7899,7895,7882,838,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208,2854,596,111],"class_list":{"0":"post-282162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-craig-woodson","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jabrill-peppers","11":"tag-jaylinn-hawkins","12":"tag-kyle-dugger","13":"tag-mike-vrabel","14":"tag-new-england","15":"tag-new-england-patriots","16":"tag-newengland","17":"tag-newenglandpatriots","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-patriots","20":"tag-the-patriots","21":"tag-treveyon-henderson","22":"tag-washington-commanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115015817882876517","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}