Dandy Dozen: Oklahoma commit Woodi Washington of Oakland lets his play do the recruiting

Unlike most of the 2018 Tennessean Dandy Dozen members, Oakland’s Woodi Washington wasn’t swimming in scholarship offers at this time last year.

In fact, the 5-foot-11, 175-pound defensive back hadn’t received a single one.

“Zero offers,” Oakland coach Kevin Creasy said of the four-star Oklahoma commitment.

It only took a couple months for that to change, though.

“Woodi is one of those guys that let his play on the field do the talking,” Creasy said. “The tape of him playing against quality receivers was his résumé.”

An impressive season-opening performance against standout Independence receivers T.J. Sheffield and Kendrell Scurry led to Washington’s first offer from Tennessee. His two-interception effort against four-star receiver Trey Knox of rival Blackman only brought more attention.

By midseason, Washington was a rising star on the recruiting trail.

“Definitely after that (Blackman) game,” said Washington, who is No. 2 on this year’s Tennessean Dandy Dozen — a collection of the Nashville area’s top college football prospects. “I had already played against Kendrell Scurry and T.J. Sheffield, and I guess they saw me kind of lock those guys up. Once I played against Trey, it kind of took off.”

He received offers from Alabama, Louisville and LSU in the days following Oakland’s 42-22 win, and by season’s end, Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt had followed suit.

Washington is listed as the state’s fourth-ranked prospect and the nation’s 19th-ranked cornerback (No. 178 overall), according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He committed to Oklahoma earlier this month, picking the Sooners over finalists Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Tennessee.

“I made my decision based on the coaches and my relationship with the coaches,” said Washington, who tallied 41 tackles and five interceptions a season ago. “And since they’re in a passing conference, I’ll be playing against a lot of big-time quarterbacks and a lot of big-time wide receivers.”

Recruiting:Tennessee high school football commitments for the Class of 2019

As far as this season is concerned, Washington will be lining up all over the field.

In addition to playing defense, he’ll be serving as a jack-of-all-trades for the Patriots offense.

“He’s going to take a lot of snaps at receiver, he can also be our backup running back and he’s learned quarterback this spring,” Creasy said. “We’re putting our best players on the field when it is gut-check time.”

Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com, 615-259-8026, and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.

The Dandy Dozen

The Dandy Dozen is a collection of the top 12 college football prospects in the Nashville area as selected by The Tennessean high school sports staff. The Tennessean began to release The Dandy Dozen on Wednesday.

Wednesday: No. 12, Jackson Hannah, MBA linebacker

Thursday: No. 11, Jashon Watkins, East Nashville athlete

Friday: No. 10, Joseph Anderson, Siegel defensive end

Sunday: No. 9, Tymon Mitchell, FRA defensive lineman

Saturday: No. 8, Jayden Harrison, Pearl-Cohn receiver

Monday: No. 7, Zion Logue, Lebanon defensive lineman

Tuesday: No. 6, T.J. Sheffield, Independence receiver

Wednesday: No. 5, Jackson Lampley, MBA offensive lineman

Thursday: No. 4, Trey Knox, Blackman wide receiver

Friday: No. 3, Lance Wilhoite, FRA wide receiver