Burgess only made his rugby debut for Bath last month but the 25-year-old has already been tipped to play for Stuart Lancaster's England in the near future.
Lancaster said the former South Sydney Rabbitohs player - who is set to start for the first time against Montpellier in the European Champions Cup on Friday - could make his England debut for the Saxons - the country's reserve team - in January.
And Woodward - the man responsible for guiding England to World Cup glory in 2003 - believes Burgess has what it takes to feature at rugby's showpiece event, which kicks off next September.
"Next year is going to be one of the biggest years in English rugby history because of the home World Cup and Sam has an outstanding chance of making the squad for that," Woodward said.
"He's a great footballer, so there's no logical reason why he shouldn't play and it will be fun finding out what happens. He's a very good player.
"Burgess is looking at inside centre, which is one of the toughest positions to play in terms of understanding the game.
"He's the number one rugby league player in the world and when a player of that stature comes over to union, you have to be excited by it.
"I'm sure he'll be loving the attention. He's under a lot of pressure because everyone will be watching him. It's great for rugby union."