Right about this time a year ago, Juron Criner signed off on a move north — a pretty drastic change for a receiver who spent three years looking for an opportunity with the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants.

When it seemed like a chance to play in the NFL had gone cold, he accepted an offer from the Ottawa Redblacks — after being released by the Giants the previous September.

While his opportunity to catch game-situation passes from Henry Burris or Trevor Harris didn’t pan out for a few months, once Criner worked his way into the lineup, he became an important part of Ottawa’s offensive arsenal. It wasn’t just the 269 yards in catches in six regular-season games he put up on the stats sheet, it was what he did in the playoffs — four receptions for 88 yards in the 35-23 semifinal win against Edmonton and three for 89 yards in the 39-33 Grey Cup overtime win over Calgary.

The 27-year-old Criner wants to be a go-to guy for the Redblacks, who lost 1,000-yard receivers Chris Williams and Ernest Jackson in free agency — replacing them with former Toronto Argos Kenny Shaw and Diontae Spencer. Criner, a fifth-round draft pick of the Raiders in 2012 (he caught 16 passes for 151 yards in his rookie season), has been in Ottawa for nearly a month now, training in preparation for the start of the Redblacks’ three-day mini camp, likely starting April 27. Regular camp begins May 28.

“I wanted to get back here early, get around the environment,” said Criner. “I’m already in go mode. I wanted to give myself a little head start.”

Of course, by arriving here early, he also got to experience the rollercoaster ride of weather Ottawa has had — with cold, snow, freezing rain and rain.

“Coming from where I came from, Las Vegas, I wasn’t expecting it,” he said. “It’s a big climate change. I played a season here. I saw snow. But being used to it? No, definitely not. I don’t even know what a real winter is.”

When he got called on to step into the lineup in place of Khalil Paden last Sept. 19 in Calgary, a 48-23 loss, Criner had four catches for 91 yards.

“The season didn’t start out great for me, with me being hurt,” said Criner. “To come in and make an impact toward the end of the season, in crunch time, that was great for me. I wanted to show something. It was good to come in and make an impression.”

He ran with the opportunity and made it impossible for the Redblacks to leave him out of their plans. Being part of that Grey Cup win, being on the field on that day in Toronto in late November where his team celebrated a championship resonated with Criner.

“The whole week in Toronto, the hype behind it with us being the underdogs, the love we got coming back even before the parade, it was unbelievable,” he said. “It was a great feeling, being my first year playing in Canada, to play on that type of stage and to win. It makes you want to hold yourself to a higher standard.”

Then once he got back home to Nevada, he enjoyed explaining to friends and family what he had just been part of in Canada.

“The CFL doesn’t get much coverage, so people don’t hear much about it,” said Criner. “To be able to end the conversation with, ‘Oh, I happened to win the Grey Cup.’ Then I had to explain to them that it was Canada’s version of the Super Bowl, that’s what you play for. It was a great story to tell over and over again.”

Criner, who at the University of Arizona became quarterback Nick Foles’ favourite receiver (32 touchdown catches and 2,859 yards in his four seasons as a Wildcat), also found time to reinvigorate himself mentally and physically.

“I got home and kicked my feet up,” he said. “ I recuperated and recovered. It’s great to feel like a regular human again — to not wake up sore, where something’s hurting and you’re not able to walk right because your knee is banged up. When the season comes along, you get into such a routine, it consumes all your time. It’s literally, work, home, study, games, sleep. I had to get my mind and body back right.

“Then it was time to get back moving, get back into shape, get my flexibility back right and get ready to come back here. I’m hungry. I’m ready to go.”

ANKOU ALL SET FOR NFL DRAFT

Eli Ankou’s fate in next month’s CFL draft will likely be determined in two weeks - during the NFL draft.

Ranked the second best prospect by the CFL Scouting Bureau, Ottawa’s Ankou, a defensive end out of UCLA, has been visiting with NFL teams and has been projected to be a potential mid-round NFL pick.

Ankou appeared in 10 games lasty year for the Bruins. In his college career he had 87 tackles, four of them for a loss. He also had 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick.

Carleton University’s Nate Behar moved up in the CFL prospect rankings to ninth, from a mid-season ranking of 12th.

Montreal’s Justin Senior, an offensive lineman at Mississippi State, went wire-to-wire as the top-rated prospect. Manitoba Bisons offensive lineman Geoff Gray is rated third.

If Ankou, Senior and Gray get NFL opportunities, that will likely push them down in their CFL draft order.