Breaking down Dallas Cowboys 2019 defensive tackle depth chart
By Randy Gurzi
The Nose Tackle: Antwaun Woods
Undrafted out of USC in 2016, Antwaun Woods landed with the Tennessee Titans. He spent the majority of his first season in the league on their practice squad but found himself being promoted in late December. Playing in just one game as a rookie, Woods had three tackles.
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He wasn’t able to return to the 53-man roster the following season, spending all of 2017 on the Titans practice squad. He remained with them until May of 2018 when they cut ties with him following an injury settlement.
That’s when the Cowboys picked him up, giving him a two-year deal ahead of the 2018 season. At the time, the move hardly made a blip on the radar but it proved to be a great move.
Woods started to shine as soon as he got into Rod Marinelli’s defense as he continued to show up in practices. That carried over into the preseason games and he eventually found himself not only on the roster, but he was also the starting nose tackle.
Manning the middle of their line, Woods was a huge reason they surrendered just 94.6 yards per game on the ground. Listed at 6-1 and 318 pounds, Woods recorded 34 tackles, 1.5 sacks, five quarterback hits and recovered one fumble. He now enters 2018 as the favorite to again man the nose position and could earn himself quite the payday as well.