After several years of working as an analyst for the likes of NFL Network and Westwood One, Pro Football Hall of Famer Rod Woodson is coming back to Baltimore.
Starting this season, Woodson is working with the Ravens Gameday Radio team as part of every preseason and regular-season broadcast. Games can be heard on WBAL Radio and 98 Rock.
“They talked to my guy that represents me. He asked me, and I’m like, ‘You know what, let’s do it,'” Woodson said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 11. “It’s going to be fun.”
Woodson played in Baltimore from 1998-2001 and was part of the Super Bowl XXXV championship. The former safety racked up 71 interceptions in 238 career games and played in 11 Pro Bowls. He had 20 interceptions and three Pro Bowl appearances with the Ravens.
Woodson arrived just two years after the team’s inaugural season and helped build the foundation of the franchise. Although he only spent four seasons in purple and black, Woodson says the city feels like home.
“I like to say I was a part of building the culture,” he said. “… I tell them all the time, if I was drafted and younger when I came here, I’d more than likely live in the Baltimore area. I love this area. I love the East Coast. I love the organization.”
Woodson and other players were tasked with creating and fostering a bond between the team and city, especially among longtime Baltimore Colts fans and those who were unsure about another city’s team coming to town. A teammate of Woodson who was crucial in those efforts was the late Tony Siragusa.
“He was always bigger than life. He always made it fun,” Woodson said. “He lived life to its fullest. … No matter where he was or who he was with, he always spoke the same and he always acted the same. He just loved life. He was full of life. He made you laugh. It could be a bad day and he’s going to get a laugh out of you.”
Just a few weeks out from the start of the regular season, the biggest question Woodson has for this year’s team is at wide receiver. Rashod Bateman is locked into the No. 1 role that he was thrust into after the Marquise Brown trade in late April. But beyond the second-year man, the remainder of the unit lacks experience.
Devin Duvernay, James Proche and Tylan Wallace have combined for just 72 catches, 712 yards and two touchdowns throughout their careers. A majority of those totals came from Duvernay last season. Even further down the depth chart is a slew of undrafted signees and career practice squad players, one or two of whom will ultimately become the team’s fifth and possibly sixth receivers.
“They need a second receiver to step up to the forefront,” Woodson said.
One solution Woodson envisions is 13 personnel (three-tight-end sets).
“I could see this team in a lot of 13 personnel,” he said. “If the opposing team comes out with three linebackers they break out and get basically into a spread formation with three tight ends and a receiver. I could see that happening with this football team. … I think that would be their best personnel package.”
Andrews is a “matchup nightmare,” Woodson said, and is entrenched as Jackson’s top target. Nick Boyle, who enters this season two years removed from his gruesome leg injury, looks like “the old Nick” to Woodson.
The Ravens drafted two tight ends this spring as well — Charlie Kolar out of Iowa State and Isaiah Likely out of Coastal Carolina. Likely appears to have taken advantage of his opportunities thus far, but Kolar sidelined with a sports hernia. The rookie out of Coastal Carolina fits nicely into the No. 3 tight end role as a big receiver.
“They’re big and they’re athletic, so they play well in space,” Woodson said of the Ravens’ tight ends. “They make you protect the width of the field.”
For more from Woodson, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Shawn Hubbard/Baltimore Ravens