Wilson declares for NFL Draft

Marquess Wilson cut it a little close, but the former Tulare Union star who had a controversial end to his career with the Washington State football team this past December, has declared for the NFL Draft.

Wilson’s stepfather, Richard Miranda, who’s the Strathmore High girls basketball coach, said Wilson has completed all the paperwork which has been received by the NFL league office, so Wilson has officially entered the NFL Draft, which will be held in April.

“All the paperwork’s in,” Miranda said. “He’s good to go. He’s declared for the 2013 draft.”
Miranda said Wilson made his decision to enter the NFL Draft on Christmas Eve. Wilson was a junior when he left the Washington State program, but since he had spent three years with the Cougars, he was eligible for the NFL Draft.

Since underclassmen must submit their transcripts to the NFL to enter the draft, Wilson had to wait on those transcripts because the Washington State registrar’s office was closed until after the first of the year.

Once the transcripts were paid for, Wilson then had to wait five business days for the transcripts. So Wilson came close to the deadline of Jan. 15, this Tuesday, for underclassmen to enter the draft. “It was kind of cutting it close,” Miranda said.

Miranda said Wilson will spend the next several weeks training in Orlando, Fla. and hopes to be invited to the NFL Combine in February. A limited number of players at each position are invited to the combine.

Before leaving the Cougar program, Wilson would have been invited to the combine for sure, as he was once rated as one of the top five receivers in the country. He’s still by and large considered one of the nation’s top 15 receivers.

But as Miranda noted, “There’s a lot of underclassmen at wide receiver that are coming out. Hopefully he gets invited to the combine. I know there’s certain things he needs to work on.”
And, Miranda said Wilson needs to put on size. “He does have a thin frame,” Miranda said. Miranda noted Wilson is still just 20-years-old and should continue to grow, so the potential to become bigger is there.

Before leaving the Cougar program, Wilson was being projected as high as a first round draft choice. Now the projections are all over the place, anywhere from the second to sixth round. “I don’t pay attention to any of that,” Miranda said.

“It’s probably going to come down to how he performs at the combine if he’s invited to the combine,” said Miranda about his stepson’s draft stock. “It’s going to come down to him working his butt off. All I know is, he will shine.”

Miranda also said his stepson will need to improve his speed. Miranda said his stepson’s best time in the 40 is 4.43. Miranda said he hopes in the next few weeks of training, his stepson can knock a few-tenths off of that time to below 4.4.

Wilson was the leading receiver for the Cougars when he left the program essentially over allegations of abusive conduct by the Cougar coaching staff. Miranda said even without finishing the season, his stepson still finished sixth in the Pac 12 and 34th in the nation in receiving.