Oklahoma State's Mason Rudolph and James Washington coming back in 2017

Oklahoma State’s keeping its two best offensive players for the 2017 season.

Quarterback Mason Rudolph and wide receiver James Washington announced Tuesday after practice for the Alamo Bowl that they would come back for their senior seasons.

Rudolph is 262-416 passing for 3,777 yards, 25 touchdowns and four interceptions in 2016. He’s also run for six scores. It’s his second-straight season throwing for over 3,700 yards and he’s already thrown four more touchdowns than he did a year ago.

Washington was one of the best receivers in college football again in 2016. He has 62 catches for 1,209 yards and nine scores and is averaging nearly 20 yards a reception. He had 53 catches for 1,087 yards and 10 scores in 2015.

With the return of both Rudolph and Washington, the OSU offense has the potential to be even more explosive in 2017. Leading rusher Justice Hill (1,042 yards) is a freshman and wide receivers Jalen McCleskey (69 catches) and Chris Lacy (30 catches) will be back in 2017 too.

OSU’s offense is averaging 6.7 yards a play and 492 yards a game in 2016. The Cowboys play Colorado in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio on Dec. 29.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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