Wood brings a nasty side
Louisville product expected to play guard
Eric Wood is a mild-mannered, soft-spoken guy off the field, but when the pads go on he morphs into someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.
In football terms, it's called "flipping the switch."
"I think that's what a lot of great players do," the Louisville center said Saturday after the Buffalo Bills took him with the second of their two first-round draft picks. "It's all about flipping the switch when you get on the field. You can do things on a football field that are severely illegal on the street. I did kind of flip that switch and try to take it to people on the field."
The Bills said they needed to get tougher. They got one tough dude in Wood, 23, who will play guard for Buffalo.
Incredibly durable, Wood started 49 consecutive games at Louisville, two shy of the school record. The Bills were convinced of his ability to move to guard after his performance at the Senior Bowl.
"We were looking to get guys who are blue-collar guys, guys who have a strong work ethic, guys that are tough and will compete," Bills offensive line coach Sean Kugler said. "Eric is a tenacious player. He's highly motivated. He's highly competitive. As far as all of the players that we looked at, his competitiveness stands him above everybody else."
Wood is a technically sound player with good strength and footwork. He also is good at extending his arms and using his hands to keep defenders at bay.
The most attractive quality is his attitude. He plays the game with a nasty streak, and he's determined to dominate whoever lines up in front of him.
At Louisville, he registered a whopping 328 knockdown blocks. His blocks resulted in 46 touchdowns during his career. He paved the way for 16 of the Cardinals' 34 touchdowns last season.
"I'm a finisher," Wood said. "I played tight end growing up and when you play tight end, the glory is catching passes and catching touchdowns. They moved me to offensive line and the fun part is knocking people down and punishing the guy you're going against. That's the joy of football to me. That competitive one-on-one battle that every play brings, and I guess through those battles I got that nasty tag."
Wood isn't just a tough guy. His work ethic is legendary at Louisville, which explains why he performed at a high level on game days.
"He's an avid film watcher," Kugler said. "He was probably the most impressive interview I've ever been around down at the combine as far as him explaining his responsibilities and how he prepares for a game.
"He takes care of his body. Good weight room guy. He eats and sleeps football. You talk [about] a guy in basketball being a gym rat. He's a football rat."
Playing in a pro-style offense in college, Wood believes it has prepared him for the step up in competition. He also played at Louisville under former Bills quarterbacks coach Steve Kragthorpe, who had an inkling that Buffalo was going to be Wood's NFL destination.
"He had me excited, thinking I was going to go there a couple weeks ago, saying that the coaches up there really liked me," Wood said. "I've been pulling for it and excited ever since then."
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