Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LOGAN — The Aggies won’t just be losing their starting quarterback to the NFL Draft a year early.
Less than a week after Utah State signal-caller Jordan Love announced he will forgo his senior season of eligibility and enter the 2020 NFL Draft, star linebacker David Woodward announced the same thing Monday morning.
“My four years at Utah State have been some of the greatest days of my life, and I would like to thank each and every one of you for helping create such special memories that will last a lifetime,” Woodward said via his Twitter account. “After much thought and careful consideration, I will forgo my senior season and chase my dream of playing in the NFL. Before that, though, I am excited to cheer on my brothers one more time in our bowl game.”
Thank you Aggie Nation!#AggiesAllTheWaypic.twitter.com/7ZT0DMfJjg
— David Woodward (@DavidWoodward33) December 16, 2019
Utah State was the only NCAA Division I school to offer Woodward a scholarship. Four years later, including a redshirt season, he’s paid that trust extended by former coach Matt Wells and his staff.
A 2018 Pro Football Focus First-Team All-American who received third-team honors by the Associated Press, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound defensive menace from Olympia, Washington piled up a team-high 93 tackles, including 53 solo stops, to go along with two sacks, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for the Aggies as a junior in 2019. This, too, after playing in just seven games, going out after a 31-7 loss to Air Force.
“He’s a fantastic player. We’ve been around some great linebackers in our careers, and obviously a bunch of those guys are still playing in the NFL. They all had their spots,” Utah State coach Gary Andersen said. “You look at where David is … the amount of tackles that he had in such a short period of time is amazing. The play that he made against Colorado State when he grabbed the ball out of the guy’s hands, and he did it against Wake Forest and they called it dead. I don’t know how guys make plays like that.
“That’s when you know you’ve got a special player.”
The redshirt junior finishes his Aggie career with 256 tackles in three seasons, including 124 (with 52 solo stops) as a sophomore in 2018.
Utah State (7-5) closes out the 2019 season Dec. 20 in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl against Kent State (5:30 p.m. MST, ESPN2).
