JW #42

Jackson Woodard

Linebacker · UNLV

A former Arkansas walk-on who became Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year at UNLV, Jackson Woodard has ridden a waiver-wire journey all the way to Miami.

Jackson Woodard is a linebacker who joined the Miami Dolphins off the Houston Texans' practice squad in December 2025. He began his college career as an unranked walk-on at Arkansas before transferring to UNLV, where he became one of the Mountain West's top defenders, and he has since bounced through three NFL organizations as a rookie.

★ 2024 Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year

★ Back-to-back First-team All-Mountain West selections (2023, 2024)

★ Went from unranked Arkansas walk-on to 116-tackle breakout season at UNLV

Path to the league

Woodard joined Arkansas as a preferred walk-on linebacker and played sparingly over three seasons from 2020 to 2022, totaling just 16 tackles. He transferred to UNLV for 2023, where his role exploded to 116 tackles, nine for loss, 2.5 sacks and an interception, then followed in 2024 by winning Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earning back-to-back First-team All-Mountain West selections before going undrafted in 2025.

Career highlights

Woodard's breakout at UNLV after minimal playing time at Arkansas stands as the defining arc of his college career, transforming him from an unranked recruit into a conference Defensive Player of the Year and a legitimate NFL prospect by his final season.

2025 season recap

Woodard signed with the Seattle Seahawks in May 2025 but was waived within days, then was claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans, where he spent much of the season before landing on the practice squad and being elevated in November. The Dolphins signed him off Houston's practice squad in December 2025, and he recorded two tackles as a rookie across his stops.