#89

Jelani Woods

Former tight end at Virginia. 2021: 44 catches, 598 receiving yards, 8 TD.

TE · Virginia · Jr. · #89

6′7″ · 275 lb · Ellenwood, GA

CFB Index 72 · #15 of 119 TEsMedium-low confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamIndianapolis — drafted 2022, Rd 3, Pick 9, #73 overall

The story

Former tight end at Virginia. 2021: 44 catches, 598 receiving yards, 8 TD.

Transferred from Oklahoma State to Virginia in 2021.
Drafted round 3 by the Indianapolis in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Virginia, 974 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — drafted at #73 overall by Indianapolis.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 122 yds vs Illinois.Illinois · W 42-142021

202111 games

Entered the portal
All-ACCfirst

2022

Drafted by Indianapolisround 3, pick 73

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #73

Indianapolis · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-ACC · 1ST TEAM

All-ACC 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

1 coach

2018–2021

Bronco Mendenhall

Virginia

Played his entire career under Bronco Mendenhall.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

IndianapolisEntering 5th NFL season

#73Rd 3 · Pick 9

IndianapolisEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Oklahoma State7-6HC: Mike Gundy · Balanced, fast tempo

2019Oklahoma State8-5HC: Mike Gundy · Run-heavy

2020Oklahoma State8-3HC: Mike Gundy · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Virginia6-6HC: Bronco Mendenhall · Pass-heavy

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

72Quality starter #15 of 119?

Medium-low confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (92nd percentile). Strength: rec tds (96th percentile). Concern: rush yards (29th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#51 / 655 · 92nd pct

14.0%

EPA / target#136 / 655 · 79th pct

0.90

Explosive rate#221 / 655 · 66th pct

15.8%

Yards / catch#228 / 655 · 65th pct

13.7

Catch rate#332 / 655 · 49th pct

75.4%

Box-score rates (8)

Rec TDs#5 / 146 · 96th pct

Rec yards#16 / 146 · 89th pct

598

Receptions#17 / 146 · 89th pct

Yards / catch#30 / 146 · 79th pct

13.6

Fumbles lost#1 / 39 · 78th pct

Long catch#46 / 146 · 68th pct

Rush TDs#10 / 33 · 36th pct

Rush yards#23 / 33 · 29th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	3.9	56.9	13.7	0.6
Road4g	4.2	50.0	12.0	1.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.8	52.5	12.0	0.8
Weeks 8+5g	4.2	56.6	14.4	0.6

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tony Elliott

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

72 · #15 of 119 TEs

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Virginia	44	598	13.6	8	--
2020	Oklahoma State	8	129	16.1	1	--
2019	Oklahoma State	16	112	7.0	1	--
2018	Oklahoma State	8	135	16.9	2	--
Career		76	974	12.8	12	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 2 · Illinois · 2&15 · Q1 · EPA +3.95Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 32 yds for a TD, (Justin Duenkel KICK)
Week 4 · Wake Forest · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.35Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 32 yds to the WFrst 33 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · BYU · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.19Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 40 yds for a TD, (Brendan Farrell KICK)
Week 13 · Virginia Tech · 3&11 · Q1 · EPA +3.15Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 11 yds for a TD, (Brendan Farrell KICK)
Week 12 · Pittsburgh · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.08Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 40 yds to the Pitt 47 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Wake Forest · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.92Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 17 yds for a TD, (Justin Duenkel KICK)
Week 7 · Duke · 2&15 · Q2 · EPA +2.81Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 16 yds to the Duke 37 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Illinois · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.66Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 31 yds to the Illin 44 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Louisville · 3&3 · Q4 · EPA +2.62Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 3 yds for a TD (Brendan Farrell KICK)
Week 7 · Duke · 2&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.61Brennan Armstrong pass complete to Jelani Woods for 7 yds for a TD (Brendan Farrell KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 43-0vs William & Mary	1	5	5.0	0	5
Wk 2	W 42-14vs Illinois	5	122	24.4	1	32	Season-high 122 yds
Wk 3	L 39-59@ North Carolina	6	47	7.8	1	14
Wk 4	L 17-37vs Wake Forest	4	73	18.3	1	32
Wk 6	W 34-33@ Louisville	2	10	5.0	1	7
Wk 7	W 48-0vs Duke	5	58	11.6	1	16
Wk 8	W 48-40vs Georgia Tech	3	63	21.0	0	24
Wk 9	L 49-66@ BYU	3	68	22.7	1	40
Wk 11	L 3-28vs Notre Dame	2	13	6.5	0	9
Wk 12	L 38-48@ Pittsburgh	6	75	12.5	1	40
Wk 13	L 24-29vs Virginia Tech	7	64	9.1	1	18
Total		44	598	13.1	8	40

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology