OXNARD, California — Entering his third year with the Dallas Cowboys, Xavier Woods is on cloud nine for more than one reason during Training Camp.
First, he became a father and welcomed his baby girl into the world, missing the first two days of camp as he spent time with his family. He kept the coaches updated one, two, and three weeks out from her birth. His absence was understood and praised- as Jason Garrett pointed out “ family comes first.”
“ I could hear her before I could see her, and hearing her cry was unexplainable. “ Woods exclaimed.
Now what he does on the field and for whom has an entirely new meaning. His daughter changes the picture and his perspective.
Then to top off the excitement, Woods is coming off his best year yet. He concluded the 2018 season with 56 combined tackles and nine passes defensed (all career-highs). He tied with Leighton Vander Esch for a team high two interceptions and he was ranked first among NFL safeties forcing an incompletion on 80% of his red zone targets.
The free safety excels in stopping the run and when I asked him how going against Ezekiel Elliott, the NFL’s rushing titleholder, in practice helped elevate his game, he responded, “ the defense knows and believes we won’t face a better offensive rushing attack than we do in practice.”
The Cowboys’ defense ranked fifth in the league against the run in 2018 and Woods is a big reason why. He affects the ball as a hitter and tracks the football from the inception of a play.
” We really liked Xavier coming out of school, “ Jason Garrett remarked to me following morning walk-through/yoga session. “ He was a guy who seemed to have a knack for playing. He was always around the ball and made plays like you’re talking about; PBU’s, interceptions, or fumble recoveries. He was that kind of a guy. He has been interesting because when he first got here he was a little bit quiet by nature… He seemed like such a smart football player with a great football IQ, but early on in that first year it started clicking for him. He started to have a bit of presence back there and I think that really showed up in his play. Not only how he was playing, but also how he was able to help our defense play better with his communication. “
The increased communication certainly translated to the field in 2018. Now with the added competition of Donovan Wilson and George Iloka in the secondary, Woods will be pushed to an even higher level in 2019, making him even more deadly to opposing offenses.
