Speaking at Big 12 Media Days, Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders offered up quite the praise for one of his players on the defensive side of the ball. Former safety Trevor Woods, who is making the transition from safety to linebacker, was compared to an all-time great.
Was Coach Prime speaking in Hyperbole, was it just typical coach talk, or was it downright bonkers?
Deion Sanders Says Trevor Woods the Next Brian Urlacher
“I think this young man is going to be the next Brian Urlacher,” Sanders simply stated.
Urlacher himself made the transition from safety to linebacker during his time at New Mexico, leading to multiple All-American honors in the process.
Is Woods on that same trajectory? Sanders thinks so.
Speaking from the podium, Sanders expressed his feelings that he believes Woods can make the transition from safety to linebacker and “be dominant” in the process.
Woods stands 6’2″ and tipped the scales at 205 pounds last season. While that puts him at a bit of a disadvantage for the Urlacher comp, his playing ability was documented on multiple occasions a year ago.
We saw the transition almost happen at the close of the season when Woods starting playing closer to the line of scrimmage and even began rushing the passer on a regular basis.
He ripped through the Stanford offensive line during the Cardinal’s come-from-behind victory when they were in pass-first mode. Woods also recorded a sack against Oregon State near the end of the season.
But where the transition usually takes down these players — especially if you’re lofty comparison is that of the all-time great Urlacher — is in the patrol area of the field. Can Woods use his safety abilities to play well enough in coverage against running backs and tight ends?
Will he be able to rush the passer off the edge or on blitzes? Can he go sideline-to-sideline with tremendous ferocity like Urlacher?
No matter which way we slice it, that lofty of a comparison will eventually lead us down one of two paths for Woods’ career at Colorado: He’s either an all-time great or an all-time bust.
Such is life when your coach speaks so highly of you, coach speak or not.
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