Last season, no one would have accused Thomas Woodson, quarterback for the University of Akron football team, of being light on his feet.
This year, Woodson looks quicker moving around the pocket and on scrambles. He looks slightly faster during the occasional run play.
Chalk it up to being leaner and lighter. Chalk it up to changing his eating habits. He said he’s dropped about 10 pounds, despite not “having eaten very much.”
He played at about 233 pounds last season after working down from even heavier
What he did ingest wasn’t exactly good for him, much to the dismay of the makers of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts. That crusty, super sweet breakfast confection has been banned from his life.
“I just don’t buy it,” Woodson said after Tuesday’s practice. “I try not to be around them. My parents don’t buy it for me. My mom refuses to buy it for me.”
Now he relies on ham and cheese sandwiches and his girlfriend’s culinary skills.
“I just have to keep working to keep myself in better shape,” he said.
Ultimately, the Zips will benefit from Woodson taking care of himself. He’ll say there’s no difference in coming into this upcoming season firmly entrenched at quarterback. But the first couple of weeks, he had his workload decreased as coach Terry Bowden and the offensive staff evaluated Tra’Von Chapman and freshman Kato Nelson.
This week that should change, as the Zips begin game prep for the season opener at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 3 against VMI.
“At quarterback you never know — even when I was the starter last year — you never know when you’re going to be ready,” he said. “You always have to be somewhat prepared and know what you’re doing, especially being the quarterback. Now I’m considered the starter, I just have to keep doing what I’ve always been doing — just keeping myself ready and prepared.”
Make that ready, prepared and working on improvement. Last season, Woodson completed 162-of-307 passes for a 53 percent completion rate. He passed for 16 touchdowns and threw 11 interceptions. Most coaches want that completion rate in the 60-63 percent range. Accuracy has been one significant knock on Woodson.
However, Bowden said on multiple occasions last season and reiterated this year that the lower completion rate is due to the number of times the Zips like to throw the ball deep.
That accuracy is one of the things that Woodson’s worked on.
“I’m trying to have my legs go to where I’m throwing the ball to,” he said. “I can’t have my legs facing another direction than where I’m throwing the ball to, so my feet and my legs have a lot to do with accuracy.”
Improved accuracy could significantly improve the Zips’ offensive fortunes. Woodson also said that improvement could happen come from the receivers. The enthusiasm flows freely as he talks about who he will be targeting with his throws.
“I’ve got different guys and they bring different skill sets,” he said.
He points to Jerome Lane Jr.’s physicality, the big-play capability of JoJo Natson and the route running of A.J. Coney as the pluses of that unit.
He also understands the importance a new offensive line.
“They’re all new playing with each other and, at the same time, they have to look at it as their opportunity to play and show they are better than the year before,” he said. “That’s no knock on the team the year before, but we want to be better than them.”
He views that particular area as one of the prime spots to show leadership.
“You want to get better every year,” he said, “so with them they’ve just got to step up to the challenge and I’m going to be there for them. It’s my job to encourage them. We have a long season and a long way to go.”
George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Zips blog at www.ohio.com/zips. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ.