Patriots' Puzzling Draft Pick Turning Heads

The New England Patriots' 2025 NFL Draft class has generally been lauded, but there was one pick that had many scratching their heads: safety Craig Woodson.

The Patriots selected Woodson in the fourth round of the draft late last month, well ahead of where most had the California Golden Bears product projected to come off the board.

What made the selection even more puzzling was that New England didn't really need a whole lot of help at safety, with both Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers holding the fort at the position.

However, Woodson has apparently been very impressive thus far, and Pats insider Phil Perry has claimed that the team has loved what it has seen from the youngster.

“(The Patriots) love his football IQ, they love his movement skills,” Perry said on the Patriots Talk Podcast.

Does that mean Woodson could potentially earn some playing time during his rookie campaign? It's possible, as teams now frequently — if not regularly — employ more than two safeties, sometimes putting three safeties on the field at once.

Of course, the Patriots will likely take it easy with Woodson. He is just a rookie, after all. But New England definitely must have liked him a whole lot to take him so early on Day 3 of the draft.

Woodson spent six years at California between 2019 and 2024 and registered 70 tackles, a couple of interceptions and nine passes defended during his final season at California.

Overall, the 24-year-old tallied five picks and 18 passes defended throughout his tenure with the Golden Bears, also displaying some very eye-opening skills in terms of defending the run.

We'll see just how much Woodson actually sees the field in his debut season and if he can ultimately carve out a role for the future.