Tag: colby wooden

10 defensive linemen Broncos could target in the NFL draft

Here’s a quick list of 10 defensive linemen the Broncos could target in the NFL draft.

The Denver Broncos’ projected defensive depth chart looks pretty good going into the NFL draft, with one glaring hole.

The Broncos do not have an obvious candidate to replace DeShawn Williams as a starting defensive end. Denver signed Zach Allen in free agency to replace Dre’Mont Jones, but the team still needs another starting-caliber defensive lineman after losing Williams to the Carolina Panthers.

The Broncos will hope that second-year defenders Matt Henningsen and Eyioma Uwazurike will step up this season, but neither of those players were major contributors in 2022. Denver would be wise to improve its defensive line depth through the draft next weekend.

Here’s a quick list of 10 names to watch for during the draft.

Tank to Dallas? Cowboys take Bigbsy in latest mock draft

Auburn’s former premier back could find a home in Texas according to the latest mock draft from NFL.com.

As talk surrounding the NFL draft heats up, there is one mock draft that is linking a former Tiger to the Lone Star state.

NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter recently dropped a four-round mock draft ahead of this month’s event and has listed running back [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag] as the Dallas Cowboy‘s selection with the 129th overall pick.

The Cowboys are looking to replace Ezekiel Elliott at running back this season, and could possibly see Bigsby as an option to pick up production. Before the draft, the Cowboys currently have Tony Pollard and Malik Davis as the top running backs on the depth chart according to ESPN, with Ronald Jones and Rico Dowdle also on the roster.

Bigsby produced a production score of 71 and an athleticism score of 67 during the NFL combine in March. He ran a 4.56 40-yard dash and did 21 reps on the bench press.

This year’s NFL draft will take place in Kansas City, Missouri from April 27-29. Along with Bigsby, [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag], [autotag]Colby Wooden[/autotag], and [autotag]Owen Pappoe[/autotag] are other former Tigers to keep an eye on during the draft.

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Auburn DE Colby Wooden reportedly visiting Jaguars

The Jaguars are reportedly bringing in Auburn defensive lineman Colby Wooden for a visit.

Auburn Tigers defensive end Colby Wooden is reportedly set to visit the Jacksonville Jaguars ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft, according to Josh Norris of Underdog Fantasy.

Each NFL team is allowed to bring in 30 players for a visit before the draft and the Jaguars have used several of those spots on defensive linemen and edge rushers. In addition to Wooden, prospects who have reportedly visited Jacksonville include pass rushers Nolan Smith, Byron Young, and YaYa Diaby of Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisville, respectively.

Wooden measures in at 6’4, 273 pounds after adding more than 40 pounds during his career at Auburn. While that’s a similar size as Travon Walker, Wooden likely projects as a defensive end in the Jaguars’ 3-4 and did most of his damage in college as an interior rusher.

In his final season with the Tigers, Wooden had six sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. In a recent seven-round mock draft, ESPN’s Jordan Reid had Wooden projected as a fifth-round pick.

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Best photos from Auburn’s Pro Day

The Tigers held their annual pro day and it was well attended.

Auburn held its 2023 Pro Day Tuesday and it was a star-studded event.

Not only were [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag], [autotag]Colby Wooden[/autotag], [autotag]Anders Carlson[/autotag], [autotag]Eku Leota[/autotag], [autotag]Owen Pappoe[/autotag], [autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag], [autotag]Shedrick Jackson[/autotag], [autotag]John Samuel Shenker[/autotag], [autotag]Marcus Bragg[/autotag], [autotag]Killian Zierer[/autotag], [autotag]Brandon Council[/autotag], [autotag]Marquis Burks[/autotag], [autotag]Caylin Newton[/autotag], [autotag]Morris Joseph[/autotag] in attendance but so was [autotag]Cam Newton[/autotag].

The former Heisman winner and national champion was a late addition and threw for his brother. Cam Newton hasn’t been on an NFL team since 2021 after a brief stint with the New England Patriots.

The event gave Auburn’s draft hopefuls a chance to show what they can do in front of NFL scouts and potentially move up draft boards. Here are the top photos from Auburn’s pro day.

Panthers 2023 mock draft 4.0: Post-combine edition

With the 2023 Underwear Olympics officially over, here is our latest mock draft for the Carolina Panthers.

Now that the Underwear Olympics are all wrapped up, it’s time for another Carolina Panthers mock draft.

Here are our latest projections following the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.

Browns make splash trade for big-time pass rusher in PFN’s new mock draft

The Browns traded up for a high-profile pass rusher in PFN’s newest mock draft.

After releasing pass rusher rankings yesterday, Pro Football Network’s Arif Hasan must have been watching closely. In his new three-round mock draft, Hasan had the Cleveland Browns making a move up from the 42nd pick up to the 37th overall pick (giving up just pick 126 in exchange) in order to land explosive and tantalizing LSU pass rusher BJ Ojulari. Additionally, the Browns then landed a versatile defensive tackle out of Auburn, Colby Wooden, in the third round. I had this to say about Wooden in my defensive tackle rankings:

“A bit of a tweener, Colby Wooden does not have enough twitch or nuance to consistently win on the outside. However, he also lacks physical play strength and length to consistently handle his business on the inside as well. While versatility is a great thing, players have to have a way to consistently win at various alignments rather than just lining up all over for the sake of doing it. There is fear that Wooden is a player without a home or real role along the defensive line.”

Overall, the Browns address two key needs in this mock draft, even if an explosive and game-breaking wide receiver is still a need beyond Ojulari and Wooden.

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Pre-Combine top defensive tackles in the 2023 NFL Draft for the Browns to target

Who are the best defensive tackles for the Browns to target in the 2023 NFL Draft? Check out these pre-combine rankings.

The NFL Scouting Combine is set to take place next week in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Cleveland Browns will be there in full force as they look to upgrade their roster in the 2023 NFL Draft. Indianapolis is also where all of the deals shake out behind the scenes between general managers, agents, and more, so more free agency and trade news should begin to leak out after the combine as well.

However, as the Browns look to improve their roster, defensive tackle is a main need for them. Here are the top-ten defensive tackles to watch at the combine. Who knows? A couple of them could be in brown and orange next season.

Here are midseason defensive tackle rankings as some prospects have gone back to school, and more tape has come out since this article.

Auburn’s hiring of Ron Roberts named most intruiging defenisive coordinator move in the SEC

Auburn’s defense will have plenty of new faces in 2023 and it will be interesting how it all comes together.

Auburn’s defense undeniably took a step back last season and [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] has turned to [autotag]Ron Roberts[/autotag] as the man to get Auburn back where it needs to be.

Roberts, who spent the past three seasons at Baylor, has spent over 30 years coaching defenses and his hire was the most interesting defensive coordinator hire in the SEC this offseason according to On3’s Jesse Simonton.

Roberts was fired by Baylor in December but was a major part of their success in 2021, their defense led the Big 12 in turnovers (27) and was second in sacks (44) and scoring(18.3).

The Tigers will continue to run a similar 4-2-5 scheme under Roberts, but there will be a much greater emphasis on being aggressive and creating more chaos.

Roberts is a big on havoc rate — i.e. the percentage of plays in with the defense recorded a tackle for loss, sack, forced a fumble, intercepted a pass or broke up a pass — and in his introductory press conference, he listed desire for Auburn to have “20 percent of our plays, we need to work in the havoc rate. If you’re doing that, you’re going to be in the top 20 in the country. That’s our goal coming out of the gate.”

That will be a tall task for Auburn as they were last in the SEC with 13 takeaways last season and will need to replace their two best pass rushers from last season in [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Wooden[/autotag] who are both headed to the NFL.

The Tigers will have several new players competing for roles as they have brought in six transfers and signed 13 freshmen this offseason to help the defense.

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The Athletic breaks down Auburn Football’s biggest question ahead of spring practice

Auburn kicks off its spring practice period at the end of the month. Which position group has the most to prove?

The on-field portion of the [autotag]Hugh Freeze[/autotag] era finally begins on Monday, Feb. 27 when Auburn takes to the practice field for spring practice.

Alongside the usual questions that come with having a new man in charge, there are several other questions that Auburn hopes to answer by the end of spring, or at least be closer to finding solutions.

Most seem to point towards the quarterback position, as Freeze has mentioned publically that he welcomes the opportunity to evaluate the position himself. Also, in that same quote, he mentions the struggle up front, which may have led to issues with [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] and [autotag]T.J. Finley[/autotag]’s decision-making in 2022.

It seems that Auburn can improve QB play by developing a stronger offensive line, which leads to The Athletic‘s most important question surrounding Auburn ahead of spring practice.

In a piece titled “SEC football: Biggest spring practice question facing each program(sub. required)“, Seth Emerson of The Athletic points toward both lines as Auburn’s biggest question mark. He is interested to see how Auburn’s new additions fill their need.

Hugh Freeze inherits a team that lost 10 offensive or defensive linemen with starting experience, including defensive lineman [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag] and [autotag]Colby Wooden[/autotag]. The Tigers reached into the portal for three offensive and four defensive linemen and have several returning players with at least some experience.

The Tigers added several players that could start game one on the offensive line, such as [autotag]Avery Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Dillon Wade[/autotag]. Auburn also received defensive line help in the form of [autotag]Justin Rogers[/autotag] and [autotag]Mosiah Nasili-Kite[/autotag], which will provide a boost to [autotag]Dylan Brooks[/autotag], Auburn’s most experienced returning defensive lineman.

Auburn’s spring practice period will conclude on Saturday, April 8, as the Tigers take the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium for the annual A-Day game.

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Six former Tigers invited to the NFL Combine

Six former Tigers are among the 319 players invited to attend the event Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

After having just one player taken in last year’s NFL draft, Auburn will be well-represented at the 2023 NFL Combine with six former players invited.

Running back [autotag]Tank Bigbsy[/autotag], kicker [autotag]Anders Carlson[/autotag], edge rushers [autotag]Derick Hall[/autotag] and [autotag]Eku Leota[/autotag], linebacker [autotag]Owen Pappoe[/autotag], and defensive lineman [autotag]Colby Wooden[/autotag] have all been invited to the prestigious event in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled to take place from Feb. 27 to March 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Hall is Auburn’s top prospect and has a chance to hear his name called in the first round. Bigsby and Pappoe are looking to play their way into the second or third round of the draft.

Pappoe missed the Senior Bowl with an injury but is expected to be ready for the combine and Auburn’s pro day.

The 2023 NFL Draft will take place from April 27-29.

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Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow JD on Twitter @jdmccarthy15.