NFL Top Player -- Robert Woods

Robert Woods
#10 WR
Buffalo Bills
Height: 6-0   Weight: 190   Age: 22
Born: 4/10/1992 Gardena , CA
College: USC
Experience: 2nd season
High School: Junipero Serra HS [Gardena, CA]

Robert Thomas Woods (born April 10, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). Woods played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.

Early years

Woods was born in Carson, California. He attended Junípero Serra High School in Gardena, graduating in 2010, where he was a teammate of George Farmer and Marqise Lee. Scout.com rated him as the No. 11 prospect overall and No. 1 wide receiver prospect. Rivals.com lists him as the nation's No. 6 overall recruit, and the No. 1 ranked athlete.

In his junior year, in 2008, Woods had 81 receptions for 1,378 yards and 19 touchdowns to go along with 15 carries for 124 rushing yards on offense. He also had 87 tackles, 7 interceptions, and 1 fumble recovery on defense.

In his senior year, Woods caught 66 passes for 1,112 yards, had 5 carries for 70 yards, and had 96 total tackles along with 8 interceptions and a forced fumble on defense for the Serra Cavaliers. In his senior year, his team won the CIF Northwestern Division Championship defeating west coast power house Oaks Christian, ending their winning streak at 34. His team would then play and beat Marin Catholic 24–20 to win the CIF Division 3 state championship and complete the season undefeated 15–0. They ranked fifth in the West according to USA Today. Following his senior season, Woods was recognized as a USA Today high school All-American and played in the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Track and field
Also an accomplished sprinter, Woods was a 2010 All-USA high school track and field selection by USA Today. He recorded personal bests of 21.04 seconds in the 200 metres, and 46.17 seconds in the 400 metres. Woods' 400 meters time of 46.17 ranked him #11 on the 2010 World Junior list, #4 in the USA. At the 2010 CIF California State Meet, Woods finished runner-up in the 400 metres to Joshua Mance in a photo finish. He placed third in the 200 metres, behind Remontay McClain and Davonte Stewart.

CAREER: In his career, he has 176 catches for 2,084 yards (11.8 avg.) with 21 TDs, 55 kickoff returns for 1,364 yards (24.8 avg.) with 1 TD, 14 punt returns for 122 yards (8.7 avg.) and 13 carries for 76 yards (5.8 avg.). He has 3,646 all-purpose yards on 258 plays (14.1 avg.). He ranks fourth on USC's career kickoff return list (1,364 yards) and tied for sixth on the career pass catching ladder (176 receptions). He has 9 100-yard receiving games in his career, including twice with 200 yards (joining Keyshawn Johnson and Dwayne Jarrett as the only Trojans to have done that), and 5 career outings with double digit receptions. He has 25 career starts.

2012: The All-American Woods, a Biletnikoff Award candidate who is one of the nation's most dynamic wide receivers and returners, returns for his third year as a starter as a junior in 2012. He is on pace to break USC career pass catching and kickoff return records.

2011: Woods was one of the nation's most outstanding and most exciting wide receivers and returners as a sophomore in 2011. Overall in 2011 while starting all 12 games, he had 111 receptions for 1,292 yards (11.6 avg.) with 15 TDs, plus 17 kickoff returns for 393 yards (23.1 avg.), 13 punt returns for 118 yards (9.1 avg.) and 7 carries for 16 yards (2.3 avg.). He was fourth nationally in receptions (9.3, first in Pac-12), eighth in receiving yards (107.7, second in Pac-12) and 16th in all-purpose running (151.6, fourth in Pac-12). He was 1 of only 2 players in the nation in the Top 16 in each of those categories. Only 4 other players in the nation had more catches or more receiving TDs. His 111 catches in 2011 broke Keyshawn Johnson's Pac-12 and USC season receptions record. His 15 TD catches in 2011 were 1 shy of the USC season record (tied for fifth on the Pac-12 season list) and his 1,292 receiving yards in 2011 were 17th on the Pac-12 season list. Four of his 15 TD catches in 2011 were at least 28 yards. He had 7 100-yard receiving games and 4 outings with double digit receptions in 2011. He and teammate Marqise Lee each had at least 1,000 receiving yards in 2011, the fourth time that a pair of Trojans had done that. Woods' and Lee's combined receptions (184) and receiving yards (2,435) in 2011 were the most by a pair of Trojans in a season. He had arthroscopic surgery on his ankle after the season.

He was one of 3 finalists for the 2011 Biletnikoff Award and one of 16 semifinalists for the 2011 Maxwell Award. He was a 2011 consensus All-American as he made the 2011 Sporting News, ESPN.com, SI.com and YahooSports.com/Rivals.com All-American first team and Walter Camp, CBSSports.com and Phil Steele All-American second team. He was the Offensive Player of the Year on the 2011 CollegeFootballNews.com Sophomore All-American first team. He made the 2011 All-Pac-12 first team (the only unanimous pick). He made the 2011 AP, ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, CollegeFootballNews.com and Phil Steele All-Pac-12 first team. He won USC's 2011 Offensive Perimeter Player of the Year Award.

Against Minnesota, he caught 17 passes (the second-most receptions in a game by a Pac-12 receiver, just 2 shy of the record) to break Johnnie Morton's school single game record of 15 (set in 1993) for 177 yards and a school record-tying 3 touchdowns (all in the first half), with his first half totals being 11 grabs for 115 yards (he also returned 3 kickoffs for 73 yards, nearly breaking one for a score), to earn Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and College Football Performance Awards National Wide Receiver of the Week honors. He had a team-best 8 catches for 102 yards against Utah and added a 14-yard kickoff return and a 17-yard punt return. He had 8 catches for 82 yards (with a 31-yard TD) and ran 14 yards on an end-around against Syracuse. At Arizona State, he had 208 all-purpose yards (a game-high 131 on 8 receptions, 75 on 2 kickoff return and 2 rushing yards on a reverse). Against Arizona, he caught 14 passes for 255 yards (5 yards shy of the USC game record) with 2 TDs (a career-long 82-yard catch-and-run of a swing pass that was the longest completion at USC since Kareem Kelly's 93-yard TD in 2001 at Oregon and a 28-yarder) and he returned 3 kickoffs for 77 yards for 332 all-purpose yards. He had a team-best 5 catches for 36 yards at California along with a 24-yard kickoff return and an 8-yard punt return. He had 12 catches for 119 yards (both game highs) with 2 TDs (3 and 14 yards), plus 2 punt returns for 29 yards, a 20-yard kickoff return and a 5-yard run, at Notre Dame. Against Stanford, he had a game-best 9 catches for 89 yards with a short TD, plus 3 kickoff returns for 58 yards, 2 punt returns for 22 yards and a 2-yard run off a lateral. He had 9 catches for 130 yards and 2 TDs (15 and 45 yards) at Colorado, plus he had 2 kickoff returns for 33 yards and 2 punt returns for 3 yards. He had 2 catches for 5 yards against Washington, plus 3 punt returns for 32 yards, a 19-yard kickoff return and a 4-yard run. He had 5 grabs for 53 yards, with 2 TDs (12 and 4 yards), at Oregon, plus a run that lost 5 yards. He had 12 catches for 113 yards, with 2 TDs (4 and 41 yards), against UCLA, plus a 9-yard punt return (he and teammate Marqise Lee became the first Trojan pair with at least 10 receptions in the same game).

2010: Woods had a phenomenal showing as a wide receiver and kickoff returner as just a first-year freshman in 2010. Overall in 2010 while starting all 13 games, he had a team-best 65 receptions for 792 yards (12.2 avg.) with 6 TDs, plus he gained 50 yards on 6 carries (8.3 avg.) and returned 38 kickoffs for 971 yards (25.6 avg.) with 1 TD, had a punt return for 4 yards and made a tackle. He was 25th nationally in all-purpose running (139.8, second in Pac-10). His 65 catches in 2010 were 14th on the USC season list. His 971 kickoff returns yards and 38 kickoff returns in 2010 are USC season records. His 1,817 all-purpose yards is a USC freshman season record.

He was the 2010 Pac-10 Offensive Freshman of the Year and made the 2010 Football Writers Freshman All-American first team (as a wide receiver), Sporting News Freshman All-American first team (as a wide receiver), Rivals.com Freshman All-American first team (as a wide receiver), Collegefootballnews.com Freshman All-American first team (as a wide receiver), Phil Steele Freshman All-American first team (as a wide receiver) and fourth team (as a kick returner), All-Pac-10 first team (as a kick returner) and honorable mention (as a wide receiver), as well as Sporting News Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, Scout.com Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and All-Pac-10 second team (as an all-purpose player), ESPN.com All-Pac-10 first team (as a kick returner) and Phil Steele All-Pac-10 first team (as a kick returner) and third team (as a wide receiver). He also won USC's Bob Chandler Award and John McKay Award.

He became the first USC true freshman to start a season opener at wide receiver in the post-World War II era when he did so at Hawaii, getting 4 catches for 46 yards along with 6 kickoff returns for 96 yards. He added 3 receptions for 64 yards and 2 kickoff returns for 35 yards against Virginia. He caught a team-best 4 passes for 33 yards against Minnesota and had 2 kickoff returns for 122 yards (including a 97-yard scoring runback to jumpstart USC, the longest kick return by a Trojan since Chad Morton went 98 yards for a TD against Purdue in 1998 and the first scoring kickoff return by a USC freshman since Reggie Bush did so against UCLA in 2003). He had 2 catches for 32 yards (with an 11-yard TD) and returned a kickoff 11 yards and a punt 4 yards at Washington State. He had 6 kickoff returns for 163 yards (including a 56-yarder to set up a USC touchdown) and a tackle against Washington. At Stanford, he had 12 catches (tied for fifth most in a game by a Trojan and 1 shy of the USC freshman game record) for 224 yards (the fifth highest game total by a Trojan, just 36 yards shy of the school record) with 3 touchdowns (including a 61-yarder) to tie the USC game record for TD catches as he earned College Football Performance Awards National Wide Receiver of the Week honors and he added 86 yards on 3 kickoff returns (and 0 yards on a rush) to total 310 all-purpose yards. He then had 7 receptions for 116 yards and 2 TDs (16 and 9 yards) against California to become the first USC true freshman to have back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since Dwayne Jarrett did so in 2004, plus he had 2 runs for 25 yards and returned a kickoff 25 yards. He had 259 all-purpose yards against Oregon (200 on 8 kickoff returns and 59 on a USC-best 7 receptions). He had 3 catches for 18 yards against Arizona State, then had a game-best 8 receptions for 41 yards, returned 3 kickoffs for 64 yards and had a 5-yard run off a lateral against Arizona. He had 3 catches for 15 yards, 2 rushes for 20 yards and 2 kickoff returns for 68 yards at Oregon State. He had 166 all-purpose yards (87 on a team-best 9 receptions and 79 on 3 kickoff returns) against Notre Dame, then added 3 catches for 57 yards and had a 23-yard kickoff return at UCLA.

HIGH SCHOOL: His 2009 honors included USA Today All-USA first team, Parade All-American, EA Sports All-American first team, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Scout.com All-American first team, Max Preps All-American first team, Max Preps All-American Medium Schools first team, Sporting News Top 100, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Dream Team, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Cal-Hi Sports All-State first team, Max Preps All-State Division III first team, All-CIF Northwest Division Defensive MVP, Los Angeles Times All-Star Back of the Year, South Bay Daily Breeze All-South Bay Player of the Year and All-Del Rey League MVP as a senior wide receiver and defensive back at Serra High in Gardena (Calif.). He had 66 receptions for 1,112 yards (16.8 avg.) with 15 TDs on offense and had 96 tackles and 8 interceptions (2 for TDs) on defense in 2009. Serra went 15-0 in 2009 and won the CIF Northwest Division title and the California state Division III championship (he had 226 all-purpose yards in the state final game).

As a junior in 2008, he made Cal-Hi Sports All-State, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Medium School first team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass first team, All-CIF Northwest Division Co-Defensive MVP, Rivals.com All-Southern Section first team, South Bay Daily Breeze All-South Bay Player of the Year and All-Del Rey League MVP. He had 81 receptions for 1,378 yards (17.0 avg.) with 19 TDs on offense, had 87 tackles and 7 interceptions (2 returned for TDs) on defense and returned 5 kickoffs and 2 punts for touchdowns in 2008. Serra was a CIF Northwest Division finalist in 2008.

As a sophomore in 2007, he made Cal-Hi Sports All-State Sophomore first team, All-CIF Northwest Division first team, South Bay Daily Breeze All-South Bay first team and All-Del Rey League Defensive MVP. He had 45 receptions for 801 yards (17.8 avg.) with 12 TDs along with 273 rushing yards on offense and had 81 tackles and 9 interceptions on defense in 2007. Current Trojans George Farmer and Marqise Lee also prepped at Serra.

He also was on Serra's track team, where he finished third in the 2009 California state 400 meters and anchored the 2009 state champion 400-meter relay team. In 2010, he won the CIF Division IV 200- and 400-meter races and ran on the winning 1,600-meter relay team. At the 2010 California state meet, he was second in the 400, third in the 200 and anchored the winning 1,600-meter relay team. He was the 2009 and 2010 South Bay Daily Breeze All-South Bay Track Athlete of the Year. He has bests of 21.01 in the 200 (fourth fastest in the nation in 2010) and 46.17 in the 400 (second fastest in the nation in 2010), plus a 45.8 split in the 1,600-meter relay. In 2010, he ran on relay teams that clocked a national-best 40.66 in the 400-meter relay and a state meet-record 3:08.42 in the 1,600-meter relay. He was the 2009-10 Cal-Hi Sports Boys State Athlete of the Year after being named 2008-09 Cal-Hi Sports Division IV Boys State Athlete of the Year.
PERSONAL: He is a policy, planning and development major at USC. His father and grandfather (both also named Robert) played football at Grambling. He and 15 of his USC teammates spent 5 days in Haiti in the spring of 2012 building homes and assisting those in need.