FOXBOROUGH - Craig Woodson’s eyes hid behind his sunglasses, but the smile on his face said it. The second-year pro is sporting a new number - 4 for those of you keeping score at home - but for good reason. His new partner in crime, veteran Kevin Byard, has worn #31 his entire career and has it again. Did Woodson get anything to make the switch?
“Did I?” Woodson cracked. “I might have. I’m not going to disclose that.”
The 25-year-old is no dummy (Cal guy and all). Considering it can cost upwards of a million dollars to change numbers - the player is responsible for buying out the inventory - at the very least, Woodson should have gotten Byard to pick up the tab. After all, he has earned more than $76 million over the course of his decade-long career.
It’s that last part that’s truly appealing to Woodson (although getting a few extra dollars in the wallet probably didn’t hurt). Byard is a been-there, done-that player, and he is opening his “book” so to speak, to help his new running mate grow and continue to blossom after a damn good rookie campaign.
"I think he’s a very talented player, just watching the film, seeing some things that he did last year. Trying to build upon that,” Byard told us recently. "A very smart - he’s a mature guy too. I know he’s only in his second year. He seems very mature in how he goes about his business, so I’m excited to be able to play with him for sure."
“Knows a lot of ball, just watching him, even during the little practices that we’ve had, just watching how he does things,” Woodson admired. “It's cool to have somebody like that with a lot of experience, and you get to ask him a lot of questions in the locker room and on the field. I'm excited to play with him this season. You know, I think we’re going to make a lot of plays.”
If there’s one thing that Byard has always done at a high level, it’s force turnovers. Last year in Chicago, he led the league with 7 interceptions, marking the second time in his career he’s been the NFL’s top pickoff artist. When you consider the soon-to-be 33-year-old doesn’t run as well as he did back in 2017, when he had 8 INTs, it’s proof of how far football IQ can take you.
"Anticipation," Byard said of his propensity for picks. “I think in this league, especially being at safety, the quarterbacks aren’t throwing the ball to us, you know what I mean? Like, you may get one or two a year where the balls just thrown right to you, you just gotta catch it. You have to be able to - from film study to anticipating route concepts and seeing stuff over and over again and understanding what the offense is trying to do.”
For as good as Woodson was a season ago, especially after the Pats defense fully committed to being blitz happy, he didn’t have a single interception in the 17-game regular season and added just three passes defensed. He was more of a ball hawk in the postseason, adding six PBUs and an INT, showing he’s capable. But in order to get to the next level and be talked about as one of the best at his position, Woodson is going to have to have more consistent ball production.
“I know he's gonna help me out there when it comes to seeing things, allowing the game to slow down even more than it's starting to already,” Woodson said of Byard. “Once we get to practice and on the field, I'm sure he's gonna give me some keys and some tools that's gonna help me.”
"If you want to be able to get to the higher numbers, you have to be able to anticipate route concepts based upon practice, film study, the coverage we’re running, understanding where your plays are to be made," Byard said. "Then after that, it’s just trusting your God-given abilities to go make those plays."
Woodson showed far more ability than expected as a rookie, starting 15 of 17 games while making both Jabril Peppers and Kyle Dugger expendable. He now knows what this league is all about and what it will take for him to have sustained success in year two.
“I would say the moments that I did not have confidence last year were the moments that I might have given up to play or something,” he said. “For me this year, I mean, that's the biggest thing: just having confidence going in, like, you know, I can make every play that's out there, I can run with all the guys, like I can do what I know I can do, so I just got to trust myself.”