The top-ranked prospect in the state of Nebraska will be a Missouri Tiger. Offensive lineman Deshawn Woods announced his decision minutes ago to join Mizzou's 2022 recruiting class. But Woods said he's known where he was headed for nearly a week.
"I came to this decision after ten minutes of me leaving Missouri," he told PowerMizzou.com.
Woods, listed at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds, is the nation's No. 162 overall player in the class and the No. 19 offensive tackle. He is the Tigers' 11th commitment in the 2022 class.
Woods claims 16 offers and had Arizona State as the other school in his final two prior to today's decision. He took an official visit to Tempe the weekend of June 4th and visited Columbia last weekend. His other offers included Notre Dame, Nebraska, LSU, Miami, Florida and Texas A&M.
"I think this is the hardest part, committing, only because to commit to a school they made it hard to say no," he said. "That’s their main job. Arizona State and Missouri both did that."
Woods is listed as an offensive tackle and said that's the position at which Missouri began to recruit him. But he feels he can play anywhere on the line and his future might be inside.
"I snapped the ball once on my unofficial," Woods said. "(Offensive line coach Marcus Johnson) saw me snap the ball and was like 'you got some power and flick to that getting the ball back there.' At first he wanted me at tackle or guard, but now it’s like he’s going to coach me as a center."
So what are the Tigers adding in Woods?
"It is difficult to accurately pinpoint where Woods is right now because we have not seen him in almost two years," Rivals.com Midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt said. "He was so good as a sophomore, but that is a long time when talking about a young man in the prime of his physical development. Woods has shown to be a unique athlete for the offensive line in the past and I do not expect anything has changed there. I am not sure if he has the length to play left tackle, but I think he can man pretty much any other position on the line."
Woods is Mizzou's third commitment on the offensive line and the fifth member of the class who is part of the Rivals250 for 2022. His pledge comes on the heels of Texas running back Tavorus Jones joining the class on Friday.
Missouri's class currently ranks 13th in the country.
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