Four-star DE Jayden Woods flips Penn State commitment to Florida
Penn State suffered a blow to its Class of 2025 Friday, as edge rusher Jayden Woods announced that he would be switching his commitment to Florida. The decision comes just days after Woods took an unexpected official visit to Gainesville.
Ranked No. 116 nationally in On3’s Industry Rankings, Woods was previously the second-ranked player in Penn State’s class. The Shawnee, Kan., native is also the 14th-ranked defensive end nationally and No. 4 overall in his state. Just a few weeks ago, Woods, who checks in at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, climbed 126 spots in the On300 to No. 141 nationally.
“He shows good strength at the point of attack and I think he’s a good athlete. He is a solid run defender and has the ability to drop into space as well. You see some solid bend around the edge and early signs of active hands and good technique,” said On3 Scouting Director Charles Power.
Woods committed to Penn State in June. He earned more than 30 scholarship offers throughout his recruitment and included Florida among his top five schools, which he announced back in the spring. However, in addition to his official visit to Penn State, Woods elected to take official visits to Purdue, Tennessee and Wisconsin before announcing his decision shortly after. Florida continued to pursue however, and without having previously taken that official visit, that opened the door for Billy Napier and his staff to swoop in late.
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This season, Woods totaled 90 tackles for Mill Valley. He had five tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries and one interception. He finished his high school career with 212 tackles, 25.5 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks.
“The way I describe Jayden is that he’s the most driven athlete I’ve ever been around,” said Mill Valley head coach Joel Applebee. “He’s focused so well mentally on the things that he not only wants to work on but the things he knows he needs to work on. He’s a very coachable kid. I would say that his mental toughness is probably his top quality, but he’s obviously a very good athlete. Just seeing his maturation from playing defensive end, to then last year, when we moved him all around the defensive line, it says a lot about what he can handle.”
Penn State still has 25 players committed in its Class of 2025, including a handful of quality edge rushers. Defensive line coach Deion Barnes also received a major boost at the position on Wednesday when Ohio native Chaz Coleman decided to forgo his previously scheduled official visit to Ohio State and instead stick with his commitment to Penn State. PSU also holds commitments from four-star prospects Dayshaun Burnett, Cortez Harris and LaVar Arrington II. All three could play defensive end at the next level.
