Player Bio
Wooden signed on to play for the Tigers after a strong career at Archer High School in Georgia. Though he enrolled at Auburn a semester early, he redshirted the 2019 campaign, making four tackles in four games off the bench. Wooden wowed SEC coaches enough in 2020 to land on their All-Freshman Team (42 tackles, 9.5 for loss with four sacks in 11 games, 10 starts) and then started all 13 games in 2021 (61 tackles, 8.5 for loss with five sacks, two pass breakups, one blocked kick). He started all 12 games in 2022, recording 45 stops (11.5 for loss with six sacks), three pass breakups and a team-high three forced fumbles. -- by Chad Reuter
Strengths
- Extremely competitive with excellent work ethic.
- Tape is peppered with heavy hands and nimble feet.
- Punch extension and spin moves to prevent long block sustains.
- Snap quickness to play in a one-gapping front.
- Activity level creates opportunities as interior rusher.
- Lays into blockers with explosive forward charge as bull rusher.
- Hands are skilled and very heavy.
- Versatility to play in odd or even fronts with more development.
Weaknesses
- More elusive than controlling at the point of attack.
- Will need to improve his stack-and-shed technique.
- Below average pursuit burst down the line.
- Unable to set deep anchors as interior run defender.
- Missing desired get-off to rush from outside.
- Hip tightness limits playmaking agility inside the pocket.
