What Scouts Said About Colby Wooden

The Packers selected Auburn defensive lineman Colby Wooden with pick 116 in the 2023 NFL Draft. Here’s what the experts said about Wooden in the pre-draft process. 

Strengths

Dane Brugler, The Athletic — Brawny, big-boned frame with proportionate body thickness and arm length ... fluid athlete with the lateral agility to avoid initial contact and attack gaps... uses quick swipe or arm-over moves to wrap blockers ... uses his hands to dispose of blocker’s wrists and work off contact ... uses his eyes well to track the ball while breaking down blocks ... light on his feet to stay on top of backs releasing into the flat ... his current and former coaches all speak highly of his work ethic and character (both football and personal) ... added 50-plus pounds since high school (enrolled at 230 pounds), working his tail off to sculpt his body with good weight ...durable and dependable, starting every game the past three seasons and playing across the defensive line.

Lance Zerlein, NFL.com — Extremely competitive with excellent work ethic. Tape is peppered with heavy hands and nimble feet. Punch extension and spin moves to prevent long block sustains. Snap quickness to play in a one-gapping front. Activity level creates opportunities as interior rusher. Lays into blockers with explosive forward charge as bull rusher. Hands are skilled and very heavy. Versatility to play in odd or even fronts with more development.

Damian Parson, Draft Network — Great blend of size, power, and length. Pass-rush upside. Anchor

Ian Cumming, Pro Football Network — With his size and athleticism, Wooden can be dangerous on stunts. With his combination of strength and mobility, he presents a mismatch for displaced blockers. He has the lateral agility to quickly shade off initial alignments and manipulate attack angles. Going further, the Auburn DT’s lateral agility enables him to disrupt both inside and outside. He can cover impressive amounts of ground when stunting laterally with space to work with. On the outside, Wooden has the agility to spin out of anchors and rip around the corner. With his explosiveness, Wooden channels his athleticism and leverages power at the point of attack. He can also use amped-up energy to leverage and unleash force inside the torso against blockers. Although he’s a bit light for the interior, Wooden stores impressive raw power inside his frame.

Bleacher Report — – Good get-off when penetrating; accelerates off the ball well. Impressive block recognition to put himself in a good position to stay in his gap. Quick and agile to change the angle on offensive linemen and make them miss when slanting. He moves well for a defensive lineman. At the point of attack, he has decent upper-body strength to get extension and hold ground against base blocks from offensive tackles. If he gets more consistent with his hand placement, this will help him shed and get off blocks more frequently. Solid arm-over to escape blocks against the run. Can make tackles with offensive linemen hanging on him. Has a decent hand-swipe move as a pass-rusher.

NFL Draft Buzz — As a pass rusher, Wooden shows quickness off the line and has the fluid athleticism and flexibility to bend the edge. Combines excellent power with initial quickness, but one of his best attributes are his violent hands, which he uses with impressive precision. Shows a natural feel for setting up blockers and getting them off-balance. His hands are active and violent, and he quickly disengages with blockers and counters when his initial move stalls. He’s very good with his hands, a technician with the violence, quickness, and the long arms to ward off blockers. Wooden has a great motor and enough creativity to make plays late in the down as a pass rusher. He’s flexible enough to bend the edge, and he’s at his best when he can use his quickness and change-of-direction abilities to counter back inside. A technician with a high motor, he has a variety of moves and displays exceptionally good hand use. Wooden shows a strong finishing burst and has the power to hold at the point of attack as a run defender.

The 33rd Team — Good lateral agility and instincts to locate and track the ball. Flashes a variety of hand use and some natural wiggle to work an edge.

Weaknesses

Dane Brugler, The Athletic — Average upper-body power ... undeveloped hands at the point of attack to disengage at will ... his pass rush setup and instincts are raw and he must

show he can alter his plan mid-rush ... late to react to blocking pressures at times ... quick first step, but his snap anticipation runs hot and cold ... inconsistent anchoring in the run game when late to dig in and sink his hips ... missed tackles were a consistent issue on his 2022 tape, lacking the hip fluidity to finish some off-balanced attempts ... always plays hard, but you want to see him crank up the on-field nastiness ... doesn’t have the arc speed to consistently win off the edge ...mediocre college sack production.

Lance Zerlein, NFL.com — More elusive than controlling at the point of attack.

Will need to improve his stack-and-shed technique. Below average pursuit burst down the line. Unable to set deep anchors as interior run defender. Missing desired get-off to rush from outside. Hip tightness limits playmaking agility inside the pocket.

Damian Parson, Draft Network — Consistency. Pad level. Hand placement.

Ian Cumming, Pro Football Network — With his lack of elite length and mass, Wooden’s hands don’t always carry maximum force, and he has a visible cap on his power capacity. But length isn’t the only thing Wooden lacks in elite quantities. Wooden doesn’t always channel his maximum burst capacity off the snap, and he could afford to get off the snap a bit quicker as a pass rusher. Additionally, Wooden’s not always strong enough to break anchors in run defense, and he lacks elite hip flexibility as well. When rushing outside, he can be locked out at the apex and folded outside by tackles. Wooden’s non-elite physical traits are notable when projecting his ceiling, but he does have a stellar athletic profile overall. Still, there are ways that he can further maximize his pallet of traits on the operational side. When defending the run on the interior, Wooden sometimes gives up too much surface area, and occasionally overruns angles, leaving backside lanes open for runners.

Bleacher Report — When playing gap control, he stands out of his stance, stops his feet on contact and has wide hand placement. Also makes it difficult for him to fight back against pressure if slanting puts him out of position. Lack of knee bend/leverage becomes an issue against double-teams and combo blocks from a tackle and tight end; he also tries to take on both blockers instead of defeating the man he's lined up across from. Likes to take risks using the olé technique to get off blocks, causing him to leave his gap assignment and create a rushing lane. Needs to learn when to pick his spots and take calculated risks. Struggles to break down and avoid getting too far up the field when penetrating. Lack of leverage and leg drive hurt his ability to collapse the pocket with a bull rush, especially against guards. Doesn't have a good go-to pass-rush move that he can win with and seems to lack a plan when rushing.

NFL Draft Buzz — Lacks the ability to be a true elite edge burner. While Wooden was able to physically overpower opponents at the college, he will have to develop a wider repertoire of moves in the pros. He’s often slow to react and locate the ball against the run.

Wooden has to develop a counter move or two in the pass rush, and while might have violent hands, he could still improve his overall effectiveness in certain situations

The 33rd Team — Not a sure position fit. He lacks burst off the edge and the strength to play inside. Struggles to anchor inside, especially vs. double teams. Lacks get-off and initial quickness.

Overall

Dane Brugler, The Athletic — A three-year starter at Auburn, Wooden was the starting defensive end in former defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding’s four-man front, although most

of his snaps came inside the offensive tackle as 4i or 3-technique. His production improved each of the last three seasons and he is one of only nine Tigers to reach 30 career tackles for loss over the last 25 years. Wooden is very active off the ball with the lower-body agility and limb quickness to play in gaps. However, his block destruction is undeveloped and he must do a better job staying on schedule to make a living battling NFL blockers. Wooden isn’t consistently disruptive when rushing from the outside, but he can set the edge or reduce down where his rush skills are more effective on the interior. He offers position flexibility as a rotational base end or 3-technique as an NFL rookie capable of ascending to starter.

Lance Zerlein, NFL.com — Defensive line prospect whose steady weight gain and frame development have allowed him to see the game at a variety of alignments. Wooden is at his most disruptive when attacking from the interior. He has a quick first step to attack gaps and threaten the pocket, but he’s unable to sit down and drop a deep anchor against bullies in the run game. Wooden’s activity level and hand skill are the keys to his current and future success -- they allow him to keep pressure on blockers from snap to whistle. High football character and scheme versatility work in Wooden's favor, but he will need to find the right team fit.

Damian Parson, Draft Network — Overall, Wooden has the making of a highly-productive and impactful defensive lineman. His blend of size and strength at the point of attack allows him to play on run downs. The developmental upside as a pass rusher and pocket-collapser is tantalizing. Being asked to play at a consistent rate with technique, leveraging, etc will help as well. Wooden has the chance to be a three-down defensive lineman that teams will love to have. 

Bleacher Report — Overall, Wooden is a solid, middle-round defensive lineman whose versatility could be intriguing to some teams. He could be a good player as the fourth or fifth guy on the depth chart who mixes into the rotation.

Pro Football Focus — Wooden is a bit of a tweener, as he played on the interior for Auburn yet clocked in at the combine at only 278 pounds. He was still productive on tape and earned a career-high 80.2 grade in 2021.

The 33rd Team — He uses his hands to gain the advantage and can stack and play two gaps. However, he lacks the mass to anchor inside, especially vs. double teams. At his current size and strength, Wooden projects as a base, strong-side defensive end who can play the run and offer a little pass rush with hand usage and wiggle. While he is not a twitchy athlete, he has the frame and athleticism to factor in as a rotational backup.

Where Colby Wooden ranked on evaluators’ big boards

Bleacher Report - 91

Pro Football Focus - 136

Todd McShay, ESPN - 149

NFL Mock Draft Database Consensus Big Board - 180

The 33rd Team - 186