Clark: Lars-Woodbey could be shining light for FSU Football

I was already expecting a lot. Based on everything we've heard over the last year, my expectations for our first interview with Jaiden Lars-Woodbey (he recently added the Lars to honor his mother) were sky high to begin with.

But after standing near the young man for 25 minutes on Monday morning, watching him answer all types of questions (including some bizarre ones from yours truly), he was even more impressive than I could have imagined.

He's 19 going on 50. Smart, engaging, polite (off the field anyway), poised, hard-working, thoughtful, socially conscious, funny and about 100 other positive adjectives you could throw in there.

Oh, and he's also a gifted football player. One who started as a true freshman at one of the toughest positions on the field.

When Willie Taggart talks about culture-changing players, this is the prototype.

When Florida State fans are looking for positives from the first season of the Taggart Era, this is one of them.

That's what I was struck by most on Monday morning. No matter how long he plays football, whether he has a 15-year NFL career or goes undrafted (which seems highly doubtful), Jaiden Lars-Woodbey appears to be one of those players who will make FSU fans proud long after his last tackle.

Case in point: The name change.

On Monday morning, FSU's sports information director for football told us the talented sophomore was hyphenating his last name to Lars-Woodbey instead of the Woodbey he went by as a freshman.

And here was his reasoning.

"My mom and my dad supported me throughout my whole life," he said. "So I just wanted to pay respect to both of them. I've told my mom, since high school, that I was going to get her (last) name on the back of my jersey. She thought I was joking. But I told her that every year. And I actually got an opportunity to do it when I got here. And I put the work in behind the words."

Lars-Woodbey was asked a lot about football during his time with the media on Monday. Which, you know, is completely understandable considering he's a football player at Florida State. And is coming off a season in which he finished fourth on the team with 58 tackles and second on the team with nine pass break-ups.

All while playing a position that was completely new to him.

Showing a refreshing amount of humility, Lars-Woodbey talked at length Monday about how little he knew when he first got to Florida State last January.

He said he was embarrassed that he didn't know what a "counter" was, or a "zone" running play, or even what "max protection" meant.

In high school, Lars-Woodbey didn't play as close to the line of scrimmage as he did last season at Florida State. He was a safety. Not a linebacker hybrid. So he didn't concern himself too much with what the offensive line was doing. He just went and attacked the guy with the ball.

But this guy is wicked intelligent. So he figured it out in a hurry. And went on to become a starter as a true freshman.

With his size, speed and smarts, he's got a chance to become one of the best defensive players at Florida State and have a long, lucrative career in the NFL.

Even if he doesn't though, he's likely going to make Florida State fans proud. And that's what I wanted to concentrate on for my first (of many I bet) columns on Jaiden Lars-Woodbey.