4 things to know about new Patriots S Craig Woodson
Woodson has plenty of experience, and has an interest in a professional career outside of football, too.
After going all offense in the first two days of the 2025 NFL Draft, Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said that the team would focus more on the defensive side of the ball on Day 3.
Well, the Patriots lived up to that promise right away. They took California safety Craig Woodson four picks into Saturday’s fourth round (No. 106 overall). Woodson is the sixth player the Patriots have drafted from Cal and the first since 2011, when they took running back Shane Vereen in the second round
Here are four things to know about the Patriots’ first fourth-round pick.
Woodson has plenty of playing experience.
Woodson was a sixth-year senior at Cal this past season. However, unlike many other players with his experience in the college game during the name, image, and likeness (NIL) era, Woodson spent all six of his college years in Berkeley.
Woodson was mostly a depth player during his first two years with Cal in the 2019 and 2020 seasons before his 2021 season came to an early end due to an injury he suffered in a preseason practice. He returned in 2022, though, and didn’t miss a game after that. He played and started in all 38 games for Cal over the last three seasons.
As Woodson remained at Cal and took advantage of the extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, he became a captain over the last two seasons. He turned 24 in February, making him one of the older prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft. In fact, he’s three years older than Patriots first-round pick Will Campbell.
Woodson primarily played free safety, but has experience at other positions.
The Patriots already have plenty of safeties on their depth chart, with Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers, and Marte Mapu among the notable names returning. But Woodson offers experience at free safety as those aforementioned players have mostly been strong safeties in the NFL.
Woodson recorded 335 snaps at free safety, 266 snaps inside the box, and 146 snaps as a nickel corner in 2024, per Pro Football Focus. He recorded even more snaps at free safety (523) to go with 202 snaps inside the box and 209 snaps as a nickel corner in 2023.
On top of that, Woodson had 450 career snaps on special teams at Cal. He’s willing to keep doing that with the Patriots.
“Whatever they need me to do on special teams in New England, I’m there for it,” Woodson told reporters Saturday. “I’m not the type of player who’s like, ‘I’m too good for special teams.'”
Considering the amount of snaps he played, Woodson was pretty productive. He recorded at least 70 combined tackles in each of the last three seasons, ranking in the top three on Cal each year. He also had two interceptions and a fumble recovery last season, allowing just one touchdown in pass coverage. PFF graded him as its 14th-best safety in pass coverage (88.6) and 11th-best safety in run defense (85.6), helping him get named third-team All-ACC.
Draft evaluators seem split on Woodson, but one projects him to be a starter.
At 6 feet and 200 pounds, Woodson isn’t the most physically imposing safety. But he actually tested relatively well among safeties in the athletic drills, recording a 4.45 40, 36-inch vertical, and a 10-7 broad jump. That gave him an athletic score of 73, via Next Gen Stats, which was the 10th-best among safeties in the 2025 class.
Still, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler isn’t sure if his traits are good enough to make him a starting-quality player at the next level.
“Whether playing down or on the backend, Woodson shows terrific recognition of run-pass development to smartly put himself in positions to make plays. He is at his best in short zones or split-safety alignments, where he can maintain spacing and drive on the football,” Brugler wrote in The Beast. “Overall, Woodson doesn’t have dominant size or traits that make him jump off the film, but he is good enough in most critical categories NFL teams want at the safety position. He will be ready from day one to compete for a depth role.”
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah, on the other hand, believes Woodson can be better than just a depth piece.
“I love what the Patriots are doing. They got another good player. He’s going to be a starter,” Jeremiah said on NFL Network’s broadcast of the draft. “You talk to folks at Cal, they’ll rave about his intelligence, leadership, and toughness. Then, you watch his tape and he makes plays on the football. Then, I’m like, ‘OK, what’s the knock?’ Well, he can’t run, but then he goes out and runs a 4.45. Maybe he’s a little bit older?
“But we’re starting to run out of excuses on why this guy’s not going higher. He’s a good football player.”
There is a path for Woodson to get playing time at free safety next season. Sixth-year veteran Jaylinn Hawkins recorded the most snaps at the position for the Patriots last season, per PFF, but the team interchanged players at free safety throughout the year.
Woodon’s an aspiring actor, too.
Beyond the gridiron, Woodson has an interest in the arts. He received his bachelor’s degree in film and media studies in 2023 as he’s been a photographer for family events and helped the Cal media football team on occasion.
Woodson also has his eyes on the big screen.
“I would love to do some acting. I’ve always said one thing I want to get accomplished before I leave this planet, man, I want to get into one movie, at least. Maybe some type of drama movie or something. I don’t know, but I think I can do okay at acting,” Woodson told The Daily Cal’s Mia Wachtel in November.
When he arrives to Foxborough, Woodson won’t be the only member of the Patriots’ secondary with an interest in the arts. Fourth-year corner Marcus Jones is a singer, releasing several songs.
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