Scouting for the Chargers Draft: Arizona WR Juron Criner

Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

With the possibilities of Vincent Jackson leaving in free agency, we need to review some of the prospects that will be available in the draft at wide receiver. We likely will be using our first round pick on defense, so let’s look at some of the possibilities that could become available later in the draft.

Today, let’s take a look at Juron Criner out of Arizona. He is a big target standing at 6’4″ 215 lbs. Here is his evaluation from Pro Football Weekly:

Tall, big-framed, West Coast target who is used underneath (competitive after the catch) and vertically at Arizona but will have to develop into a possession receiver in the pros. Moves well with a fluid stride and good acceleration for a big receiver but has average speed, shows some tightness in his hips and is a bit straight-linish.

Criner looks like he will be selected somewhere in the second round and could be someone that we should target if VJ packs up his bags and leaves. He has the prototypical size that we like at receiver. He also has the ability to add yards after the catch, which is not a strength of a lot of our receivers.

Line the kid up out wide with Malcom Floyd and Antonio Gates on offense and he should do pretty well. Philip Rivers will get him the ball if he can get open.

If we drafted him, we would still have tall targets on the outside  and still should be able to move the ball down the field. He definitely should be someone to be considered, IF VJ is gone.