Wide receiver

Arizona

6-3 224

Draft board overall prospect rank: #65

Draft board overall wide receiver rank: #11

Overall rating: 73 (3rd round)

40 time: 4.68

Games watched: Stanford/Arizona, UCLA/Arizona

Positives

·         Great size (6-3 224)

·         Physical with cornerbacks

·         Huge hands (10 ½)

·         Makes a ton of tough catches

·         Often bailed out Nick Foles and made him look better than he was

·         Incredibly productive (2010: 82 catches for 1223 yards and 11 touchdowns, 2011: 75 catches for 956 yards and 11 touchdowns)

·         3 year starter

·         Phenomenal body control

·         Great leaping ability (38 inches)

·         Great red zone threat

·         Catches the ball at it’s highest point

·         Good short route runner

·         Breaks tackles

·         Willing and able blocker

·         Good inside and outside possession receiver

Negatives

·         Poor 40 time (4.68)

·         Not explosive

·         History of medical problems

·         Rumored “psychological issues”

·         Stiff out of his breaks

·         Not a deep threat

·         Doesn’t get a lot of separation

·         Not a great athlete

NFL Comparison: Kevin Walter

Juron Criner reminds me of Kevin Walter. Walter is not a great athlete, but his size, hands, and body control have allowed him to be a solid possession receiver for the Texans. Criner is a similar player who can be a solid possession receiver both inside in the slot and end zone. He’s also incredibly tough to cover in the end zone one on one. He has an excellent combination of size, leaping ability, timing, body control, and hands. He frequently bailed Nick Foles out with highlight reel catches against tough coverage, especially inside the red zone.

Criner has little to no speed to burn and had an awful 40 time of 4.68 that killed some momentum coming out of the Senior Bowl, where he was very good. He won’t be a #1 receiver at the next level, but he can be a solid #2 or #3 receiver. He’ll probably be drafted in the 3^rd round with an outside shot at the 2^nd round, where he was projected prior to The Combine.

Another comparison is Eric Decker, who I compared to Kevin Walter when Decker came out 2 years ago. Decker was a 3^rd round pick in 2010 and has been a solid player in the 2 years since. Decker had some injury problems coming out of Minnesota. Criner has some past injury problems, in addition to some rumored “psychological issues.” That’s something that NFL teams will know more about than me.