The Jets' tight ends room is a crowded place these days.

Seats are occupied by one of this year's three first-round picks in Kenyon Sadiq, last year's second-rounder in Mason Taylor and the 2022 third-round selection Jeremy Ruckert.

The fourth guy, Jelani Woods, is a towering 6-7 physical specimen who was selected out of Virginia in the third round (No. 73 overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft by Indianapolis. That was when the Jets' new OC Frank Reich was the Colts' HC.

"I love Jelani," Reich said. "I love that whole room, but Jelani's super talented. Obviously, [I] was a part of drafting him in Indy. First of all, he's an explosive blocker. He can block the point of attack. He's long [34-inch wing span] and he's fast [4.6 in the 40]. People don't realize how fast he is once he gets the ball in his hands. He's dangerous with the ball in his hands. That's what I remember from his college tape, and even the one year we were together in Indy. When  he catches the ball, he's a big man [253 pounds] and he can run, and he's smart. Jelani is like wicked smart, and so I think he has helped the tight end room learn certain aspects of this offense, knowing what we want to do."

It appears that one of the things Reich "wants to do" with an offense that is a work in progress, is to exploit the potential of each of the TEs to create mismatches for the opposing defense. Each of the four tight ends now in camp has a variety of skills that will enable the offense to play with one, two, three ... dare we say four ... in the game at the same time.

"How stern is he?" Woods said. "I kind of tell guys all the time, Frank Reich is one of those quiet assassins. He's quiet the majority of the time, but he'll get on you when he has to. But for the most part you just do your job and do it at a high level, have fun. He's gonna love you."

In so many ways, the coaches and the players in camp have come to love Woods. The Jets claimed him off waivers late in training camp last year and he re-signed with the team this past March. After a strong rookie season with the Colts in 2022 (15 games, 25 catches for 312 yards and 3 TDs), Woods missed the entire 2023 and '24 seasons with hamstring and toe injuries.

"There's a number of things that you can envision him doing for us," HC Aaron Glenn said. "You can split him out and let him go one-on-one with a safety, a linebacker, and I'm expecting him to win that matchup."

In camp, with Sadiq and Taylor each dealing with short-term injuries, Woods has gotten a chance to display his talents and work with QB Geno Smith. Woods loves the TE group and the different skills they possess.

"I'd say we're very dynamic," Woods said. "Everybody can do everything, so it gives us the opportunity to put ourselves in a position to be successful. Whatever coach wants us to do, we all can do it at a high level. So it just makes it, I guess, kind of easier. You don't have to just limit guys or anything. You can just put whoever out there, and they're gonna be able to get the job done."

And Smith, who is enjoying his varied options on offense -- on the O-line, at tight end, wide receiver and running back -- has taken notice.

"I like the way Jelani has been out there making plays," Smith said recently. "He's making plays."

In that crowded tight ends room, there is certainly nothing guaranteed to any player. That, however, has only served to motivate Woods, whose 4 games last year for the Green & White were his first since 2022.

"Oh, it's exciting," he said. "I still take it a day at a time, moment by moment, play by play. Classroom by classroom. Like I don't really look too far ahead. Monday practice is Monday practice, Tuesday practice is Tuesday practice, and I just keep it at that."