Juron Criner is running away with some postseason honors.
Photo by Rick Osentoski/US PRESSWIRE
Arizona Wildcats junior receiver Juron Criner has been chosen a second-team All-American by CBSSports.com.
And yet he’ll be the second-best receiver in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29.
Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver on Thursday night. Blackmon has 102 receptions for 1,665 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Criner was one of the four unanimous selections to the All-Pac-10 team, announced earlier this week, after a season in which he made 73 receptions for 1,186 yards and 10 touchdowns.
I asked Criner, a junior, after last week’s loss to Arizona State if he would use need to use the time before the bowl game to consider his future, perhaps petition an NFL advisory committee for his likely draft status.
“To tell you the truth, as of right now, I haven’t really put much thought into it,” he said. “I’m looking to just get through the season … and then I’ll just worry about that then.”
This is not a strong year for senior receivers, but a wave of underclassmen could flood the draft at receiver — Georgia’s A.J. Green, Alabama’s Julio Jones, Notre Dame’s Michael Floyd, Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles and Pitt’s Jon Baldwin, among several others. Blackmon, a redshirt sophomore, also is eligible for the draft.
In other words, Criner figures to have a lot of first-round-caliber competition.
Rob Rang, a senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, said he hadn’t focused much attention yet on Criner, but he did break down the game against Arizona State.
“You obviously like that combination of size and speed. Good body control and hands,” Rang said. “I would be curious to see what he is in terms of 40-yard speed. It looks like he has build-up speed, but I would want to see how explosive he is.”