Top 5 transfer portal landing spots for Florida EDGE Jayden Woods

Jayden Woods was a big recruiting win for Florida a year ago, rated a four-star top-100 national prospect by 247Sports, and the 6-foot-3, 248-pound EDGE had some flash moments for the Gators as a true freshman, but he's now expected to look for a new school and program while hopping in the transfer portal.

On3 slots him No. 18 overall and No. 4 among EDGEs in its ranking of all the players who have entered or declared intentions to enter the transfer portal, meaning there should be a lengthy list of interested suitors as the portal officially opened Friday and teams can begin calling transfer targets.

Woods, who is from Shawnee, Kansas, had 5 tackles for loss and tied for the team lead with 3.5 sacks, becoming the first Florida true freshman to lead or co-lead the Gators in sacks since 1992. He also tallied 27 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble while playing in all 12 games and drawing two starts.

He played well in the big games as his sacks came against Miami, Texas, and top rivals Tennessee and Florida State. His best game was against the Vols, as he notched 8 tackles along with the sack and a forced fumble that he also recovered.

While On3 and 247 both reported this week that Woods would enter the transfer portal, Florida wasn't giving up on trying to keep him in Gainesville.

If Woods does follow through on plans to transfer, though, here are five potential landings spots for him.

Florida Gators defensive lineman Jayden Woods (15) tackles Florida State Seminoles running back Ousmane Kromah (32) | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

1. Tennessee Volunteers

Woods took an unofficial visit and an official visit to Tennessee leading into his senior high school season, and included the Vols in his top 5 schools list along with Florida, Purdue, Wisconsin, and Penn State.

Woods committed to Penn State that summer before flipping in late November to Florida, which makes the Vols even more interesting here as they recently hired former Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jim Knowles for the same position.

So, Woods liked Tennessee enough to visit multiple times and include it in his top schools list. He liked Knowles' Penn State defense enough to commit there initially. Knowles is now at Tennessee, and Woods' best game of his freshman season came against the Vols.

See the dots we're connecting here?

2. Texas Longhorns

OrangeBloods.com is reporting that Woods is a specific transfer target of interest for Texas, and that site is the go-to source for inside intel on the Longhorns, so we trust there's some real fire behind that smoke.

Texas just made a splash hire in switching defensive coordinators and bringing in Will Muschamp, who has spent the last handful of years at Georgia in a variety of roles and has a deep resume of high-level success calling defenses.

If Woods wants to stay in the SEC, be coached by an elite DC and have a chance to compete for a national championship next year, Texas makes a lot of sense.

3. Miami Hurricanes

Miami isn't done yet, advancing to the CFP semifinals with an upset win over Ohio State, but the Hurricanes also need to start looking ahead to their 2026 roster as they'll lose disruptive edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor to the NFL.

That's an ideal landing spot for any pass rusher with NFL ambitions right now, and Miami is getting a national showcase to potential transfer targets with how dominant its defense has been in playoff wins over Texas A&M and Ohio State so far.

Miami offered Woods out of high school, and it would be logical for the Hurricanes to take another run at the in-state transfer.

4. Missouri Tigers

If Woods wants to stay in the SEC but also play closer to home, Missouri is the option that gives him the opportunity to do both.

Woods' father, Justin, played at Kansas State, in the Big 12, and it will be interesting to see if the Wildcats get involved or can compete NIL-wise with the other suitors, but Missouri makes a lot of sense as another geographical option.

The Tigers have been successful in the SEC under coach Eliah Drinkwitz and have had a top-10 national defense this year under coordinator Corey Batoon.

5. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Texas Tech's blueprint last offseason was clear -- build the best defensive line in football at any cost through the transfer portal.

It certainly built one of the best, and that unit carried the Red Raiders to the College Football Playoff, but star edge rushers David Bailey and Romello Height are now moving on to the next level, and it only stands to reason Texas Tech will invest heavily in reloading at those spots.

Woods is a little less proven than Bailey was when the Red Raiders paid big to land him out of the portal a year ago, but the rising sophomore showed plenty of potential in his first college season to be worth betting on for the program.