WELCOME to the U, Eli Woodard

Mario Cristobal and his staff landed the verbal commitment of four-star wide receiver Eli Woodard (Temecula, CA - Chaparral) on Tuesday.

From among twenty-one scholarship offers, Eli chose Miami over California and UCLA.

At 6’-1”/180, Eli is rated 93, ranked the #24 wide receiver and the #164 overall prospect in the 2027 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Eli is a multi-sport athlete competing in both football and track (110 & 200 meters). During his high school career, he played both ways. In 2025, Eli caught 51 passes for 1,070 yards (21 YPC) and 17 TD on offense while adding 32 tackles, 7 PBU and 1 INT on defense.

Andrew Ivins, 247 Sports’ director of scouting, posted the following evaluation in February.

“Deep threat that can stretch defenses and flip the field with his long speed. Still developing size, but is on the younger side for the grade and might eventually offer some inside-outside versatility. Quick to step on the pedal when he gets a clean release. Tracks the ball well over his shoulder and will gear up or down to make the catch. Snaps hands to secure off-target passes. Needs some polish as an intermediate route runner and has to figure out how to get more out of his RAC opportunities, but took a major step forward as a junior. Projects at this stage as a potential multi-year starter at the Power Four level that can emerge as a trusted vertical option.”

Eli is the twentieth commitment to Miami’s 2027 recruiting class, now ranked #2 in the composite team rankings and #1 in the ACC. He joins five-star wide receiver Nick Lennear in Miami’s wide receiver class.

Welcome to the U, Eli! Welcome to the family!

GO CANES!