Arizona Wildcats stars Nick Foles and Juron Criner were both a step slow at today’s NFL Combine. How it affects their draft status won’t be known for another two months.
Criner ran the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, numbers that rank 39th among wide receivers invited to the combine. That Criner's time came indoors, and on turf, is even more alarming.
Miami wide receiver Travis Benjamin, Georgia Tech’s Steven Hill and Stanford’s Chris Owusu all tied for the best time with 4.36 seconds. Arizona State’s Gerell Robinson ran a 4.62, and Oregon State’s James Rodgers clocked in at 4.67 seconds.
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, the projected No. 1 overall pick in this spring’s draft, ran a better time (4.67) than Criner by one-one hundreth of a second.
Foles’ 40-yard dash time of 5.14 seconds wasn’t much of a surprise, given that the UA’s all-time leading passer relied mostly on arm strength and footwork during his time in college. Still, it’s a bit jarring: his time was the slowest among all quarterbacks invited to the combine.
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Boise State’s Kellen Moore was second-slowest, at 4.94 seconds, and Kirk Cousins — Michigan State’s star quarterback and one of Foles’ friends — clocked in at 4.93 seconds. Baylor’s Robert Griffin, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, was the fastest at 4.41 seconds.
Both Foles and Criner will have an opportunity to run another 40-yard dash at Arizona's on-campus pro day.
Read more in Monday's Arizona Daily Star.
