Watch List: S Luke Woodson

Deerfield (Ill.) sophomore safety prospect Luke Woodson (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) was an impact performer in 2019 for the Warriors (10-3) and head coach Steve Winiecki. Woodson is one of a handful of returning starters back from the Warriors Class 7A state semifinal squad and is also a name to watch in the growing Class of 2022. Get to know Luke Woodson here.

"We started up team conditioning and it feels good to be back ," Woodson said. "After being locked down for so long because of COVID it's just good to have some structure back."

Woodson, who played linebacker last season for Deerfield looked back at his wild 2019 season, his first as a varsity starter.

"I was able to come into a defense that already had a lot of varsity starters and experience last season, so I was able to just feed off the overall energy from my teammates. My teammates and coaches really helped me adjust to playing varsity. The first game of the season ended up being one of my better overall games of the year (Lakes). I was able to just build off that first game and I also got a lot of confidence after that game so the adjustment wasn't as tough as I expected it to be, but I also had a lot of help."

So what has Woodson been focusing on to improve his overall game this off season?

"I've been working on my overall speed and just working hard to get faster. I'm also adding more good weight and strength. I'm also trying to be a better leader for my team this coming season. We graduated 17 starters from last year's team and I take being a leader pretty seriously. I'm looking forward to just helping out the younger guys as much as I can because I had strong team leadership last season. The seniors taught us to never give up and keep working. We always fought to the end and we found a way to win games, and we need to carry that forward again this season."

Does Woodson have a dream school?

"My dream school would be just getting the opportunity to play at a strong academic schools at the highest level possible."