Last week, the Kansas City Chiefs enjoyed the bye week with a perfect 4-0 record and the top position in the AFC. The first quarter of the Chiefs season went better than many anticipated, and the team has seen a slew of new faces making contributions early on.
One of the new faces to see the field early has been rookie defensive tackle Peter Woods. The 30th-overall selection in this spring’s NFL Draft, Woods has been one of the Chiefs rookies playing extensive snaps early in the season.
He hasn’t been
overly productive through his first four career games, but flashes on film suggest a player the Chiefs should keep betting on as the season progresses.
Let’s look at his four-game grades and film.
Grades
When evaluating Woods, I broke his grades into run-game wins and losses, one-on-one pass-rush wins and losses, and neutral pass-rush snaps, and tallied impact plays as well as pressures.
I gave Woods a 71% grade for run defense this season, and this is where he has shone the brightest early on in his career. As for one-on-one pass-rush win rate, this is an area where he has struggled. In 17 true one-on-one pass-rush snaps, Woods has won only 5, around a 29% win rate, and I recorded only three pressures for Woods all season, with zero quarterback hits and zero sacks. He has been on the field for 48 of the plays I graded as “Neutral,” where the slide protection went his way or the play was a play-action or RPO look that took the defense out of the equation.
I do have Woods recorded for five impact plays, not including pressures, that range from impressive plays in the run game to batted passes and high-level effort plays.
Run defense
Woods is far from a traditional defensive tackle run stuffer, and early in his career, he has used his athleticism to make plays in the run game.
A strong point-of-attack player with good leverage, moving Woods off a spot can be hard for any player, including Las Vegas Raiders Pro Bowl Center Tyler Linderbaum.
On the snap, Woods collides with Linderbaum in the backside A-gap on the Raiders’ trap run. As they meet, Woods stands his ground and tosses Linderbaum out of the picture, blowing up the play.
Strength is one aspect of his game, and explosion is another.
Lined up as the backside three technique against zone left, Woods explodes out of his stance and gives the right tackle no chance to block him. Woods makes the tackle for loss, showing how his quickness off the snap can make him “unblockable” against certain plays.
Woods still has work to do on his technique, but defeating one-on-one run blocks has been where he’s been at his best this season.
On the snap, he is late off the ball, but he has the lateral movement and strength to overcome the guard’s reach block and take away the lane the running back is looking for.
One-on-one, Woods is a problem in the run game. He can still improve at holding double teams, but when it comes to penetrating quickly and beating reach blocks, he is hard to beat.
One-on-one pass rush
Woods’s most glaring issue so far has been his inability to create pass rush in one-on-one situations. He has shown glimpses but nothing consistent.
Woods is at his best as a pass rusher when he has gap returns or uses his lateral mobility to quickly work through pass lanes before the offensive linemen can fully get a grip on him. On the snap, he quickly swats the left guard’s hands down, and without the running back delivering a chip block, he would have generated more pressure.
Woods has been less effective when he has to engage and then work a move, but he has shown he can develop more pass-rush moves.
Woods locks up with All-Pro Quenton Nelson, reading the run first. When the quarterback pulls the ball, Woods quickly uses a strong push-pull move to toss Nelson and apply pressure on the passer. The play action delayed Woods a bit, but the move was there.
Given his lack of length, the push-pull is a good secondary move when quick wins don’t come with hand fighting or quick penetration. Woods still has room to grow as a rusher, but the tools are there.
Motor
Woods’ motor is undeniable, and it’s been on display multiple times throughout the first four games of the season.
The quarterback fires a quick checkdown to the running back in the flat to avoid pressure from the opposite side of the field. On the snap, Woods is tasked with containing the quarterback, and that containment forces the quick pass.
Woods has unique movement for a big man, and he doesn’t waste it. Hawking the back from behind, he makes the stop. With consistent effort like this, the next time Woods makes a play like this, it will likely be a fumble.
The bottom line
No young player is perfect, and Woods is no exception. While he lacks the elite length and size of other high-level defensive tackles, he has the mobility and strength few in the league possess.
Seeing him excel in the run game during the early stages of his career is a great sign for Kansas City and gives him an area where he can provide value to the team while he continues to develop his pass rush arsenal.
The rest of his season will be worth watching, and it will be interesting to see how the coaching staff uses him on pass-rush downs later this season.
