Overview
- Woodyard announced Tuesday that he will enter the portal when the Jan. 2–16 window opens and intends to use his final year elsewhere.
- He started 11 of 12 games in 2025 and finished as Auburn’s No. 2 tackler with 67 stops, seven tackles for loss and two sacks.
- Pro Football Focus credited him with an 88.9 run-defense grade and named him First-Team All-SEC.
- His decision follows the firing of Hugh Freeze and the hiring of Alex Golesh and comes as fellow defensive starters Jay Crawford and Malik Blocton have also declared portal plans.
- Auburn has retained defensive coordinator DJ Durkin and standout linebacker Xavier Atkins, with local reporting counting about 22 Tigers expected to enter the portal.