News: Raiders wide receiver Juron Criner was barely involved in the passing game during Thursday night's contest against the Broncos in Week 14. Criner caught two of his three targeted passes for just 24 yards in a 26-13 defeat. He was the fourth-leading receiver on the team behind Rod Streater (100 yards), Darrius Heyward-Bey (82 yards) and Denarius Moore (43 yards).
Analysis: Criner has averaged around 24 receiving yards in each of his last five games and has been able to get somewhat involved in the passing game during his rookie season. Unfortunately his production is too low to make any sort of impact in Fantasy. Continue to view him as a desperation option in deeper formats heading into Week 15 at home against the Chiefs.
News: Oakland wide receiver Juron Criner has a tough matchup coming up on Thursday night Week 14 at home against Denver. The Broncos have been tough against wide receivers this season and are allowing the eighth-fewest Fantasy points per game to the position. They've been a little easier to score against in recent weeks, but no receiver has topped 100 yards against them since Wes Welker Week 5.
Analysis: Criner, a rookie out of Arizona, caught his first two NFL passes in the Week 4 game at Denver. He went for 29 yards in that game. He did not make another catch until Week 10 at Baltimore, but has 12 catches in his last four games, including his first NFL touchdown Week 11 against the Saints. Still, he has a tough matchup Week 14 and Carson Palmer has plenty of other options to find in the passing game. Criner can be considered a low-end Fantasy option in all formats for the Thursday night contest.
News: Raiders wide receiver Juron Criner was unable to come up with most of the passes thrown his way in Week 13 against the Browns. He was targeted 10 times by quarterback Carson Palmer, posting a career-high four catches for 26 yards in the 20-17 loss.
Analysis: Criner has seen his role increase in recent weeks but still has a long way to go before becoming a viable option in Fantasy. Leave the rookie for the deepest of formats down the stretch.
News: Raiders wide receiver Juron Criner scored the first touchdown of his career in Week 11 against the Saints. The rookie hauled in a 3-yard scoring strike from Carson Palmer in the fourth quarter and finished with three catches for 23 yards in the 38-17 loss. Criner was targeted six times in the contest.
Analysis: Criner has seven catches for 83 yards thus far in his rookie campaign but does not have a huge role with the Raiders at this point. Continue to ignore 22-year-old in the majority of Fantasy formats at this point.
News: Raiders rookie Juron Criner caught two passes for 26 yards in Sunday's 55-20 loss to the Ravens. These were his first receptions since Week 4.
Analysis: Criner is pretty far down the list of passing options for the Raiders, although, to his credit, only one of his catches on Sunday came in garbage time; he was targeted three times, and his first catch came in the first quarter. Still, even with all the passing going on in Oakland, Criner has no Fantasy value at this time.
News: Raiders rookie receiver Juron Criner had a big performance in Saturday's preseason game against the Lions. He caught two touchdown passes from reserve quarterback Terrelle Pryor. The former Ohio State standout threw a 39-yard touchdown to Criner, who twisted back to haul in the underthrown ball over a defender, in the fourth quarter and a 76-yard pass across his body to Criner running a post pattern across the middle for another score. “You have to have that instinct,” Criner said. “When the ball is in the air it belongs to me, and it is all about making the 50/50 plays, and I was just blessed enough to come down with that one.”
Analysis: Criner's big plays came in the fourth quarter after most of the Lions' defensive starters were out of the game. Although, this is definitely good progress for the rookie receiver, who has a good chance to make the 53-man roster. Criner has four catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns this preseason. He is proving to be a big-play threat on offense, but he needs to show this same prowess in the regular season before he becomes a must-add Fantasy option. Leave Criner for mostly rookie and dynasty/keeper formats on Draft Day.
News: Raiders rookie wide receiver Juron Criner put on a receiving show during Tuesday's OTA. On one play, he made an acrobatic grab between two defenders of a 50-yard pass from Carson Palmer. On another, he blew past a defensive back for a long catch from Palmer. It appeared that Palmer and Criner already had their rhythm down pat. "I think every day he gets a little bit better," coach Dennis Allen said. "I was pleased with the way he practiced today. It's not a whole lot different than what we saw on tape in college. That's what we expect from him."
Analysis: This is nice to hear but we'd like to see Criner do this against first-string competition before we start touting him as a sleeper. Funny thing is that Criner slipped in the NFL Draft partially because of his speed. The guy otherwise is a gem -- he's 6-foot-3 and 224 pounds and caught 75 passes for Arizona last season for 956 yards and 11 touchdowns. If he can keep this up through the summer then we're talking about a serious sleeper.
News: The Raiders selected Arizona receiver Juron Criner with a fifth rounder in the NFL Draft. Criner had 75 catches for 956 yards and 11 touchdowns last season for Arizona. The Raiders drafted Arizona WR Juron Criner (6-3, 224) in the fifth round (168th overall). Criner caught 82 passes for 1,233 yards and 11 touchdowns last season for the Wildcats. He'll be the biggest receiver on the Raiders' roster, but also the slowest -- he runs the 40 in 4.68 seconds.
Analysis: Criner might become a red-zone threat and a candidate to pull down some jump balls. But until he finds regular playing time, the rookie with pretty good hands won't be a factor for Fantasy owners. He should only get picked late in dynasty/keeper leagues and rookie-only drafts.
