Al Woods is a full-blown Louisiana man.The former LSU defensive tackle was born in Jennings, attended Elton High School and played college football at LSU.Now he will begin his professional football career in Louisiana, as he was selected in the fourth round of the NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints last weekend.Woods grew up a Saints fan, and he said he can convince the Saints he is worth keeping on their roster this season.”I can be a great person for the Saints,” Woods said. “I’m a guy who won’t get into any trouble off the field and a guy who will wreak havoc for them on the field.” Albert Elias, Woods’ agent, said it was an emotional moment when Woods was chosen by his childhood favorite team.”He cried, and his dad cried,” Elias said. “People are always looking forward to moving away places, but he decided to stay home. That shows you where his loyalties lie.”Woods said he realizes the importance of devoting enough time to learning the Saints’ defensive scheme. He will work under coach Sean Payton, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and defensive line coach Bill Johnson.”I hope I can help stop the run game, become a better pass rusher and an every-down defensive lineman so they don’t have to take me out in certain situations,” Woods said.Woods stands at 6 feet 4 inches and 314 pounds, and he registered a 36-inch wing span at the NFL Scouting Combine. Local NFL draft analyst Mike Detillier said Woods is “the prototype” of an NFL defensive tackle.”The problem is he’s never been able to turn all that athleticism into production on the football field,” Detillier said.Woods was ranked as the top prospect in Louisiana by TigerBait.com and the nation’s 15th-best recruit by ESPN.com coming out of high school in 2006. He played in 41 games in four years at LSU, starting just 16 times, including 13 in his senior season, and recorded 73 tackles (35 solo) and 3.5 sacks in his career.The Saints traded for the No. 25 pick in the fourth round to snag Woods on Saturday, and Detillier said Woods going at that time was not surprising.”Woods had really started to pick up some steam on the draft trails,” Detillier said. “You really fall in love with a guy’s potential as a player. It’s a great opportunity for him; he just needs to turn up the production dial.”Woods said talk of him not reaching his potential in college does not affect his mindset entering the NFL.”As far as hype and not living up to it, that’s somebody else’s expectations for me, not the expectations I put on myself,” Woods said. “My first expectation was to get to LSU and help them win a national championship, and we did. I don’t care about hype or stats.”Elias said “anticipation” is the main thing Woods needs to develop.”He’s going to be a better pro player than he was in college because he’s so young,” Elias said. “Defensive linemen grow the most between years one and two in the NFL because they’re going against offensive linemen who have been in the league for six or seven years.”Elias said the chance to play professionally is particularly special for Woods because of the type of person he is off the field.”Al is a sure gentleman, but he’s also got that boyishness that makes him so likeable,” Elias said. “This couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”
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