Teams hunting for WR could choose Washington

STILLWATER — On any random day, Oklahoma State quarterback Taylor Cornelius could come home to the apartment he shared with James Washington and find the former Cowboy star receiver working hard to perfect his craft.

“I’ve walked in the room, and there’s freaking calls going off in the house,” Cornelius said.

Not play calls. Hunting calls.

“He’s saying he’s practicing for stuff,” Cornelius said with a laugh. “I was like, ‘OK, whatever.’”

Washington is a busy guy these days.

After his Biletnikoff Award-winning senior season at OSU, he’s been finishing up his final nine class hours, with graduation coming May 12.

He’s working out with OSU strength coach Rob Glass, alongside teammates like Chris Lacy, to prepare for the next level.

And he works in as many hunting trips as he can, usually back to the area around his hometown of Samford, in the western part of Texas.

“He goes home quite a bit,” Lacy said. “Every time he comes back, he’s got another story about something he just shot.”

For the next day or two, Washington won’t be the hunter, but the hunted, when the NFL Draft begins at 7 p.m. Thursday on KOKH-25.

Make no mistake, Washington’s passion for football might be the only thing that outweighs his love of hunting, and that’s one of the big reasons he’s considered a potential first-round pick, or at least a secondrounder, in this draft.

The 5-foot-11, 213pound Washington finished the year with 1,549 yards and 13 touchdowns on 74 catches, for averages of 20.9 yards per catch and 119.2 per game. He finished his OSU career with 4,462 receiving yards, most in Cowboy history.

Beyond his receiving ability, his highly respected character,

intelligence and off-field behavior have boosted his draft stock as high as the middle of the first round in some mock drafts.

“I feel like I’m a perfectionist,” Washington said. “I always want the best from myself, no matter what it is. I’m always gonna push myself to be the best I can be."

With Lacy, a potential late-round pick, on campus as well, the pair of receivers have pushed each other in workouts as they wait for the door to open on the next phase of their playing careers.

“It’s crazy, just the thought that we have no idea where we’ll be in two weeks,” Lacy said. “We pretty much work out every day, then on the weekend, we hang out or whatever.”

Lacy, at 6-foot-3 and

205 pounds, improved his draft value when he ran a 40-yard dash time in the low 4.4-second range at OSU’s pro day last month.

Though he doesn’t know if his name will be called during the threeday draft, Lacy says he’s more excited than nervous about what the weekend will hold.

Washington tries to remain focused on the fun side of the process.

“It’s been stressful at points, but you’ve got to always remind yourself that this is a once-in-alifetime deal,” Washington said. “This is something that we dreamed about since we were kids.”

OSU players in NFL Draft

Oklahoma State could see its highest number

of players selected in one NFL Draft during Mike Gundy’s time as head coach, a mark that stands at four in the 2010 draft.

Here’s a look at OSU’s top prospects and their draft projections: Quarterback Mason Rudolph: 1st-2nd round

Receiver James Washington: 1st-2nd round

Receiver Marcell Ateman: 3rd-5th round

Safety Tre Flowers:

4th-7th round

Receiver Chris Lacy:

5th round-undrafted free agent

Offensive tackle Zach Crabtree: 7th round-undrafted free agent

Defensive tackle DeQuinton Osborne: 7th round-undrafted free agent Offensive center Brad Lundblade: 7th roundundrafted free agent