OU's Woodi Washington Staying Grounded in Pivotal Offseason

The youth movement at cornerback came on strong to close the 2020 season.

Woodi Washington and D.J. Graham began to assert themselves in the rotation, finishing the year with a strong performance in the Cotton Bowl and providing a springboard into 2021.

But even after last year’s offseason was completely disrupted, Washington was unfazed and is attacking this fall camp with the same level of focus.

“Honestly, I take every approach the same,” Washington said during a Zoom press conference on Wednesday. “So camp this year is no different than last year to me. At the end of the day, I’m going to be a competitor no matter what position I’m at, whatever spot on the field I’m at.”

The main difference this year is that Washington is trying to embrace his experiences over the past two years to try and take a leadership role with the younger guys in the DB room.

“I would say as one of the older corners, just taking on that leadership role and helping out the younger guys would be the main thing that really changed for me from this camp from last year,” he said.

In fact, Washington’s impact is felt so deep throughout the cornerbacks group that Graham, a player Washington is battling alongside Jaden Davis for snaps, said he looks up to Washington alongside walk-on Ryan Peoples as players he patterns his own game after.

“(Washington’s) technique is flawless,” Graham said. “Their technique, the way they move their feet, like, literally hands-on the first in first two yards. They do all that, like, they check all the boxes.

“So, me being a young corner, you know, I still have a little bit of hiccups on my technique.”

Helping along Graham, alongside the likes of freshman Latrell McCutchin will be important in 2021. Regardless of who gets the start, cornerbacks coach Roy Manning said he’d love to be able to work in plenty of guys so that everyone stays fresh on the back end of the Oklahoma defense.

“You want to go into a game with two corners and want to be able to sub both guys,” Manning said. “So I think (we want to play) at a minimum four. I’ll probably be shooting for five this year because we have the numbers. … That’s my plan, to get as many guys ready.”

Manning also said he expects everyone to stay sharp to continue to compete to hang around in the rotation. In consecutive years, Manning said the Sooners have put both Parnell Motley, Tre Brown and Tre Norwood into the NFL despite rotating all three players heavily.

“The good thing for them is they have proof that you don’t have to play an entire game to get drafted,” Manning said. “We’ve seen that from each and every guy that we’ve had get drafted from this defense the last two or three years. They weren’t just starters who played the whole game.

“I think about Tre Brown last year, who played 30 or 35 snaps a game. We’ve got proof to say “You’re your best when you’re playing your best and not necessarily when you’re playing the most.’ That’s been a good philosophy for us keeping guys fresh.”

While Washington is taking a measured approach this offseason, he still thinks he’s made gains between the ears as he hopes to improve on his two interceptions from the shortened 2020 season.

“I always say just my mental (game), I think I have a lot better mentality-wise,” Washington said. “When I do lose a rep, just redialing back in and just focusing on what’s ahead and not reflecting on the past.

“Like I said, I take every approach the same, so really it was just a mindset thing of just trying to work and just be my best.”

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