NFL Draft
3/24/25
5 min read
Jo’quavioius “Woody” Marks 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For USC Trojans RB
Height: 5100 (verified)
Weight: 215lbs (verified)
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Kylin Hill
Scouting Overview
USC Trojans running back Woody Marks is a productive college player who should find his role at the NFL level as a part of a running back stable. He’s a decisive runner who doesn’t waste a lot of time in the backfield.
Marks enjoyed a career breakthrough playing in USC’s gap-heavy scheme, which allowed him to slash and explode into gaps with momentum. Marks is not a particularly explosive player but does find ways to contribute in the passing game, going back to his play at Mississippi State, which gives him multiple avenues to secure his place in a running back room.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| RB | Woody Marks | USC | 4.54 | 1.57 | 119 | 35 | 4.24 | 18 |
Positives
- Runs with good vision to set up blocks before thriving when transplanted into USC’s gap-heavy scheme
- High-volume pass catcher who has illustrated reliable hands when targeted
- Offers good ball security with just one career fumble
Negatives
- Lacks explosiveness as a runner to defeat pursuit angles and minimal breakaway ability
- Despite his Senior Bowl weigh-in, he does not run like a bigger back and does not force missed tackles at a high rate
- Missing stiffness as a pass protector to protect the pocket
Background
Jo’quavioius “Woody” Marks is from Atlanta, GA, and played high school football for Carver HS. There, he was a 4-star recruit (247 Sports) who chose Mississippi State over schools such as Louisville, Alabama, and Wisconsin as a member of the Bulldogs’ recruiting class of 2020.
Marks logged eight starts in 11 games for Mississippi State during the 2020 season but retained his fourth year of college eligibility due to the NCAA policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Marks started another eight games with the program in 2021 across 13 games and another seven games in 12 appearances in 2022 before setting a career-high at Mississippi State with nine starts in nine games as a fourth-year junior.
Marks would enter the transfer portal as a 4-star transfer (247 Sports) after the 2023 season and landed with USC, where he set career highs in rush attempts and rushing yards and tied his mark for rushing touchdowns.
Marks accepted an invitation to the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl to culminate his college career.
Tale Of The Tape
Marks is a solid running back prospect with some likable qualities. He is missing the game-breaking abilities or well-rounded game that would suggest he’s a viable option to become a marquee player in an NFL backfield.
The things he does well should endear him to coaches. Marks is good with his ball security; he runs without hesitation, and he illustrates good ball security. But what other gains can he make in the margins of his game?
In the run game, Marks has played for two different run schemes between Mississippi State and USC. The Trojans offered him a lot of pullers to fall behind in power concepts, and Marks showed comfort in pressing into their heels and setting up second-level blocks before breaking into space.
The vision is good to read and key the point of attack. That said, Marks does not have the lateral explosiveness or the change of direction ability to counter when defenders defeat blocks at the point of attack.
He’s more of a momentum runner, so he carries speed into the lane instead of creating explosive cuts and stark changes in his track. Further complicating his running style against defenders who win at the line of scrimmage is that Marks does not run with a great deal of contact balance. He gets bogged down too easily by non-head-up challenges, which limits his consistency in earning hard yards.
Marks is missing the open-field burst and speed to hit home runs with any level of consistency. If he bursts through the lane at full speed and catches poor angles fitting from depth, he can gouge you. But there aren’t a lot of pursuit angles he’s going to wash away when he opens his strides and hits open grass.
In the passing game, Marks has proven himself to be a reliable set of hands underneath, and that serves as a good foundation for a third down role. He hasn’t been charged with collecting a lot of targets down the field — he has just one catch in the last three seasons that came more than 7 air yards downfield per TruMedia.
Still, swings, flats, checkdowns, and screens all should be considered on the menu, especially when you pair his vision and willingness to cut off a block and project it into a screen game role.
Marks will need to improve his pass protection execution to command a full third-down role, however. He can be, at times, too passive in framing blocks and otherwise fails to consistently punch and square free runners. He’s not especially physical in these opportunities and teams will need to balance his receiving ability with finding the right edge to his game if they’re not going to run empty with him on the field.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Marks projects as a potential passing down back at the NFL level. He’s not a big mismatch type of player, however. He’ll need to develop his pass-protection profile to earn trust as a high-volume third-down player.
Grade: 69.00/100.00, Sixth Round Value
Big Board Rank: 238
Position Rank: RB25
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