Trevin Wade broke up 13 passes this season. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Nick Foles is the Arizona Wildcats’ top draft prospect, a possible top 50 pick, probably the third or best fourth quarterback available.

Opinions vary on ex-Cat receiver Juron Criner, who has size and a history of big plays, but he perhaps lack desired NFL speed … and he will be scrutinized for being away from the team last summer for what were described as “personal and family matters.”

Then, there is cornerback Trevin Wade.

Wade is a solid draft prospect who will enter the scouting season as a mid- to late-round pick.

“I would characterize him as a day three pick, somewhere in rounds four through seven,” said Rob Rang, senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com.

“It’s going to come down to workouts. If he runs in the 4.4s, considering how well he has played, that really helps him. The reality is he played better as a senior than he did as a junior, and scouts are looking for that.

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Nick Foles passed for a conference record 361.17 yards per game this season. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

It doesn’t much matter right now if former Arizona Wildcats quarterback Nick Foles is rising or falling on the NFL draft boards.

He will begin his first major post-graduate exam in a few weeks — and that will start to tell the tale.

Foles is headed to the Senior Bowl, his father Larry confirmed Friday, where he will get a chance to work out for a week in front of scouts from every NFL team. The game will be played Jan. 28 in Mobile, Ala.

“He just has to go out and prove himself,” Larry Foles said.

“I told him, ‘It’s all you now.’ You can’t say this or that anymore. Now, it’s how well you prepare and how you do.”

For the record, Foles’ stock does seem to be on the rise. NFLDraftScout.com — which supplies analysis for CBSSports.com — recently elevated Foles to the 49th-best prospect nationally and the fifth-best quarterback available.

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Arizona's Nick Foles looks to flip the ball to a teammate against Oregon last season. Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images

There is still a whole season to play — and then an important offseason of workouts — but the early NFL draft projections for the Arizona Wildcats’ biggest stars are all over the board.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper, at the end of the 2011 draft, rated Arizona senior Nick Foles as the No. 2 quarterback prospect, behind Stanford’s Andrew Luck.

Rob Rang of NFLDraftScout.com told TucsonCitizen.com last month that he had talked to one NFL talent evaluator who loves Foles as a high second-round pick.

But Rang reported on CBSSports.com that Foles received a substantially lower grade at recent meetings of National Football Scouting personnel — who provide about half of the NFL teams with early information on prospects (for a price).

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Juron Criner catches this pass from Nick Foles for a 52-yard touchdown against Arizona State last season. Photo by Christian Petersen, Getty Images Sport

One thing you can say about Arizona coach Mike Stoops: He has upgraded the talent level with the Wildcats.

That should be fairly obvious with three consecutive bowl seasons, the current five-game losing streak notwithstanding.

But Stoops also is producing steady NFL talent, as Arizona is in the midst of a streak of producing a top 50 player in the draft for five consecutive seasons.

Here is how it breaks down:

2007 — RB Chris Henry (second round, 50th overall)

2008 — CB Antoine Cason (first round, 27th overall)

2009 — OT Eben Britton (second round, 39th overall)

2010 — TE Rob Gronkowski (second round, 42nd overall)

2011 — DE Brooks Reed (second round, 42nd overall)

This is the first time in Arizona history that it has produced at least a second-round pick in five consecutive drafts.

And next year could make six.

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Nick Foles threw 19 touchdown passes in the regular season.
Photo by Craig Mitchelldyer-US PRESSWIRE.

This might not fall into the breaking news category, but people have asked about it, so I put it to Arizona Wildcats junior quarterback Nick Foles after practice Thursday: What are your football plans after the season?

“I plan on being back,” he said.

Foles is considered an NFL prospect, which would be a first for Arizona since joining the Pac-10. In fact, considering that next season will be the debut of the Pac-12, the Wildcats figure to go all 33 seasons of the Pac-10 without producing a single player who was drafted as a quarterback.

That’s assuming Foles is waiting for the 2012 draft after his senior season.

“It was always a dream of mine as a kid to play college football,” Foles said. “I want to enjoy this while I can. I think a lot of time people overlook where they’re at. I’m fortunate to be here and be in a situation where I’m playing football at a great university.

“That’s not going to change. I want to be here. I love it here.”

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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.

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UA defensive end Ricky Elmore fires up his teammates late in the game against Iowa.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Senior defensive end Ricky Elmore was the last Arizona Wildcat off the field last Thursday night. Helmet still on, Arizona State fans celebrating in the stands, he trudged toward the locker room.

“I just didn’t want to leave,” he said later in the interview room, choking up on the emotion.

“I wouldn’t have come off unless they had made me. I would have sat out there and just waited for everyone to leave. It’s rough. It’s the last time I was going to play in front of those fans. The last time I was going to play on that field.”

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Original artwork created by Rob Osborne, who was inspired by foles4heisman.com. You can check out Osborne's other creations at robosborne.net.

Arizona quarterback Nick Foles is only one-third of the way through his junior season, so it’s a little early to nail down any kind of draft projections.

I said a little early.

But not impossible.

Through four games of the season, in which Foles has led two late game-winning drives and hit 74.5 percent of his passes, Foles has risen to the second-best junior quarterback prospect in the nation, according to NFLDraftScout.com. He trails Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett.

Rob Rang, a senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, has carefully gone over Arizona’s games against Iowa and Cal. He isn’t completely comfortable putting a draft grade on Foles right now, but when pressed about the possibilities — assuming that Foles shows natural improvement over the rest of his college career — Rang said he could see Foles being a high second-round pick in 2012.

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Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski has not been made available to the media since successful back surgery late last month, but coach Mike Stoops said this week it will be 2-3 months before the potential All-American can resume physical activity.

Rob Gronkowski could be the top tight end in the 2011 NFL Draft/Tucson Citizen photo

The assumption has been that Gronkowski would return next season as a redshirt junior, re-establish himself in the eyes of NFL scouts, and then move on to the first round of the 2011 draft.

On other hand, if Gronkowski is healthy for the NFL scouting combine next February, couldn’t he just wow the scouts with his physical ability and rely on two good seasons of game film?

I talked to Rob Rang of NFLdraftscout.com, and he said option No. 1 is definitely the way to go.

“I think it would be a foolish decision to not come back and play college football,” said Rang, whose work also helps fuel the draft coverage on CBSSports.com.

“This is not a great senior class of tight ends, so I could see where he would have some encouragement to come out. But he has first- or second-round ability, and to come out early and put all your eggs in that basket in terms of workouts, I think it would be a risky move and not worth the risk.

“He certainly has the ability to come back and prove himself to be the elite tight end in the entire country.”

The way it has worked out this season, the nation’s top two tight ends — Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham and Gronkowski — won’t play a single down because of injuries. Gresham, recovering from a knee injury, already has said he would make himself available in the 2010 draft.

All things being healthy and equal, Rang said Gresham is a better pro prospect than Gronk right now.

“Gresham’s length and straight-line speed,” Rang said of Gresham’s advantages.

“He’s more of a receiver specialist, and in the way the NFL uses tight ends nowadays, that is preferred. He is a top 10-type of prospect.”

Rang said Gronkowski will simply need to show he’s healthy next season.

“His health is absolutely the critical element,” Rang said.

“If he comes out for the draft this year, he will be able to prove he is healthy enough to run the 40 and bench press and all that, but he won’t be able to prove he can take a hit (after the back surgery).

“Next season, he wouldn’t have to prove anything else in terms of ability. He has proven he can block, and certainly has proven he can catch.”

Related link at wildaboutazcats.com: Devin Ross’ draft stock is on the rise