On Monday Oakland Raiders safety and long-time team stalwart Charles Woodson announced the 2015 season would be his last in the NFL.
Woodson announced he would be retiring at the end of the year, leaving Oakland with a big hole not only in the talent department, but in the leadership and experience department as well.
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Normally, it would be a no-brainer and completely understandable that someone with Woodson’s pedigree would want to call it a career after 18 years. With the average NFL player career spanning 3.3 years, per the NFLPA and statista.com, you could say that Woodson’s 18 years are far beyond what any fan or coach could have hoped to get from the former Heisman winner.
With that being the case, is it selfish to think that Woodson is retiring too soon? A Look at Woodson’s production might convince you it isn’t.
Per profootballreference.com, Woodson has been playing safety since the 2012 season, his last with the Green Bay Packers. It was an obvious move from cornerback to safety, as with age comes slower coverage speed and more injuries. Understandably, Woodson’s first year at the position wasn’t great; this was due mainly to only getting in 7 games and struggling with injuries that season.
After 2012, however, Woodson grew into the position well, and has improved as a safety in terms of vision and range with each season. His interception totals have gone up from 2013 (1) to 2014 (4) to 2015 (5), and he has played in at least 14 games all of those seasons. Here also posted a career high in fumble recoveries in 2015 with 4, which means his vision for the ball is still at an elite level.
profootballfocus.com signature cover stats for safeties agrees that Woodson has never played better. He’s gone from being rated the 43rd best cover safety in 2013, to the 7th best in 2015. The fact that he is rated higher than a guy like Earl Thomas from Seattle and just behind a young phenom like Harrison Smith from the Vikings should be a sign Woodson’s skills haven’t dropped off with age.
Woodson would turn 40 next October, so relying on him to play 16 games next season would be tough, even with his reputation for playing through injury. And the fact that he’s been playing this season with several injuries could be a deciding factor in Woodson’s decision to walk away. But it’s also clear that the game isn’t forcing him out of the NFL, and if he wanted to play in 2016 he could.
With the Raiders secondary in flux, Woodson’s departure could add to a position of need next year.
As the Raiders are on the upswing and could be a big factor in 2016 in terms of playoffs, it’s hard to think that Woodson won’t be around to experience his teams resurgence. Woodson has been sacrificing his body for so long for losing Raider campaigns it seems only fair he should come back at least one more season for a chance at a long playoff run and a walk off championship ala Jerome Bettis or Michael Strahan.
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It’s the one main reason Woodson should not retire and play one more season for the Oakland Raiders.