Four seniors from Nebraska’s 2005 football team will take part this week in the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, a vital part of the draft process. Each of the four ex-Huskers recently sought counsel from Fabian Washington. Wise move.

Washington, who left Nebraska after his junior season in 2004 to enter the NFL Draft, represents a shining example of the importance the combine carries in the draft process. In fact, the fleet cornerback’s performance in Indianapolis propelled him from a projected third-round selection into the first round — he was taken No. 23 overall by the Oakland Raiders and comes off a solid rookie season.

“I put on possibly the best performance of my life in front of basically every executive in the NFL,” Washington said last week while enjoying rest and relaxation in his home state — Florida.

This week, four of Washington’s former Nebraska teammates — Titus Adams, Daniel Bullocks, Cory Ross and Le Kevin Smith — will be among 300 prospects who will travel to Indianapolis to be poked and prodded by NFL team doctors to ensure they’re not damaged goods. They’ll also run 40-yard dashes and perform various other drills to measure speed, strength and agility. They’ll be given IQ tests and be interviewed by NFL general managers and coaches.

“It’s like one big job interview,” Washington said. “You’re basically applying for a job. You basically have to treat it like you’re a businessman.”

Gil Brandt, a former top executive with the Dallas Cowboys and now senior analyst for NFL.com, said Washington increased his contractual value by literally millions of dollars with his blazing 40-yard dash at the combine. NFL.com placed Washington’s time at 4.31 seconds. At least one team had him clocked as low as 4.23, Washington said. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound

defender also recorded a vertical leap of 41½ inches. That’s ridiculously high.

Washington signed a five-year, $12.3 million deal with Oakland. By comparison, the 32nd selection in the draft reportedly signed a five-year, $8.4 million contract.

During the past few weeks, Washington said, he’s had long conversations with each of the four Indianapolis-bound former Huskers.

“They ask me a lot of questions, and I try to give them as much information as I can,” said Washington, listed No. 1 at right cornerback on the Raiders’ offseason depth chart after recording 43 tackles this past season.

Washington tells them about his interviews with teams at the combine. The process is organized, he said. A few nights are set aside for hotel-room interviews. Players are handed cards informing them when and where to meet team representatives for the standard 15-minute sessions. Conducting the interviews are head coaches, general managers, sometimes even owners. Washington said he interviewed with about 20 teams.

“I was so nervous,” he said. “When I walked in for my interview with New England, I was like, ‘Whoa.’ It’s quite a process. You just have to know how to handle yourself.

“If you have been in trouble in college, that’s definitely something they’ll ask you about. I was glad I didn’t have to worry about that.”

A few days into the combine, Washington said, players take a Wonderlic IQ test consisting of a series of questions to be answered within a set time frame. An example of a Wonderlic question: A boy is 17 years old, and his sister is twice as old. When the boy is 23, what will be the age of his sister?

(If you quickly guessed 46, you need to try it again; she would be 40.)

The Wonderlic test is taken seriously by NFL teams because they typically already have ample information on players’ physical prowess, Brandt said.

Said Washington: “If you want to get into the league, the combine is just something you have to go through. Really, thinking back on the whole thing, it was nothing I expected it to be. But I just let it all hang out.”

Washington said ex-Husker teammates often ask him about what it’s like to play in the NFL.

“I tell them it’s definitely harder than college football,” he said. “Actually, it’s like 20 laps ahead. There were times during (preseason) training camp that I wondered, ‘Am I really cut out for this?’ Everybody has talent in the NFL. It’s all about who’s going to work hard to study other teams’ offenses. That’s what separates good players from great players.”

Sounds like good advice.

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.