Overview
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 213 pounds
School: Oklahoma State Cowboys
Combine Performance Data
40-yard dash: 4.54 seconds
Bench Press: 14 reps
Vertical Jump: 34.5 inches
Broad Jump: 10 feet
3-Cone drill: 7.11 seconds
20-yard shuttle: 4.32 seconds
James Washington 2018 NFL Draft Profile
James Washington was born in Abeline, Texas and, like most Texans, football became life for him at an early age. By the time he got to high school, Washington was a gifted football player and went on to set all kinds of records while at Stamford High School. As a junior, Washington caught 78 passes for 1,172 receiving yards, scored 22 total touchdowns and earned first-team all state honors all while helping his team make a state playoff run. He followed that up with 73 catches, 1,331 receiving yards, 24 total touchdowns, 42 tackles, seven interceptions, class 1A Texas Player of the Year honors and a state championship all in his senior year.
If that was not already impressive enough, Washington was a three sport athlete being dominant on the hardwood and on the asphalt for Stamford’s basketball and tennis teams. He was named District MVP after his senior season of basketball and in the spring, went on to be named first team all-region in tennis and played in the state doubles quarterfinals. Despite generating so much buzz on the Stamford campus, Washington was only offered two Power Five scholarships (TCU & Oklahoma State). He committed to Oklahoma State and was hoping to model his career after some of the great Cowboys receivers before him.
Washington made an immediate impact for Oklahoma State his first year leading the team in touchdown receptions with six. He tallied 28 receptions for 456 yards and averaged 16.3 yards per reception. Washington showed flashes in his first year that he could be a great deap threat receiver. As a sophomore, Washington hauled in 53 receptions, 1,087 receiving yards, 10 touchdowns, led the nation with four 70+ yard receptions and was named second team All-Big-12 at the end of the season.
The numbers continued to improve as Washington became one of the most feared deep ball receivers in 2016. He caught 71 passes for 1,380 yards, had 10 receiving touchdowns and was named first team All-Big-12. He had a career best performance totaling up 296 receiving yards on nine receptions versus Pittsburgh, the fourth highest yard total in Big -12 history. Going into his senior year, there was very few things Washington hadn’t already accomplished in his collegiate career, but he checked off two more accolades in 2017. Washington was named a Consensus All-American and won the Biletnikoff award – given to the nation’s best receiver – for the first time in his career. He led the nation with 1,549 receiving yards, an average of 20.93 yards per catch, finished fourth in receiving touchdowns (six) and 74 receptions.
Washington went on to participate in the 2018 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. He impressed coaching staffs around the league as he continued to blow by corners and safeties in practice wreaking havoc on defenses. During the NFL Combine however, Washington did not test well and his results did not back up what scouts saw on film which created a cause for concern.
Strengths
- Gets off of press really well
- Exceptional home run threat, averaging nearly 20 yards a catch for three seasons
- Can locate the ball in the air without losing speed
- Has great build up speed, can kick it into 5th gear at the end of the route
- Experience in both slot and boundary receiver position
- Wins a lot of 50-50 deep balls
Weaknesses
- Ran primarily deep routes, will need to learn the rest of route tree
- Played in the Big-12 conference, known for its week secondaries
- Runs top heavy and stiff at times
- Average footwork when making breaks and cuts
- Tends to round off a lot of routes rather than making sharp breaks
- Double catches short balls at times
NFL Comparison: Ted Ginn Jr.
Teams with need at the position: Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins
Projection: Late first to second round
Bottom Line
Not many receivers put up better numbers than Washington did while he was at Oklahoma State, but the knock on him is that many scouts consider him a one-dimensional receiver. One-dimensional or not, Washington displayed an elite level of explosiveness on deep passes which should interest a lot of NFL teams, especially those who lacked big plays last year. If guys like Ginn, DeSean Jackson, or Paul Richardson have made careers off of being home run wide receivers, there is no reason why Washington cannot do the same and have a lengthy NFL career.
Main Photo:Embed from Getty Images
