OSU Has Nation’s Best “Offensive Trifecta” for 2017

It’s no secret that Oklahoma State boasts a powerful offense and figures to be one of the most dynamic teams in college football in 2017. The Cowboys are the only team to return a 4,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard receiver and a 1,000-yard rusher this fall.

247Sports recently made a list of the top 10 offensive trifectas in the country and OSU’s trio topped it, beating out star-studded threesomes from the likes of USC, Alabama and Washington.

Two thirds of Oklahoma State’s trifecta are possible first-round draft picks in next spring’s NFL Draft. Rudolph threw for more than 4,000 yards as a junior and has all his weapons back. Those weapons include Washington, a 1,300-yard receiver from the fall who’s one of the game’s most explosive big-play threats. Justice Hill rounds out the group after leading all freshman running backs nationally last fall with 1,142 rushing yards. [247Sports]

Rudolph captains the ship and leads all returning Power-5 QBs in passing yards, yards per game and TD-to-interception ratio. He’s 22-6 as a starter and looks poised to rewrite all the Oklahoma State record books as a senior.

Rudolph followed up maybe his worst games in college with one of his best with an efficient thumping of Pac-12 darling Colorado and hopes that fun send-off will carry over into 2017.

He said as much after the Alamo Bowl.

“I think this is definitely going to help propel us into the off-season,” said Rudolph “keep us high, encourage us to have a great off-season mentally and physically, really get after it.”

James Washington may — somehow — be the most underrated player in America. He’s in the top three in receiving yards among receivers returning in 2017 and averaged a ridiculous 19.44 yards per catch and hauled in 10 scores last season.

Amidst a crowded receiving corps, Washington is the star. Make no mistake. But with the other playmakers around him, expect Washington see even more single coverage, a la the Alamo Bowl. Watch out, every team on the schedule.

Justice Hill breathed new life into a ground game that, frankly, had become almost anemic over the previous couple of seasons. As a true freshman, it only took the Booker T. Washington product four games to fully take the reins and he never looked back. With a full year as the No. 1 in front of him and more questions than answers behind him, we could be looking at an even more impressive output from Hill in 2017.

It should be fun year.