Low maintenance, high character: The NFL draft case for ex-Arizona Wildcats WR Trey Griffey

If Trey Griffey makes an NFL roster, it won’t be because of the numbers he compiled as an Arizona Wildcat.

The wide receiver who hopes to hear his name called during the upcoming draft caught 79 passes for 1,241 yards and six touchdowns in four seasons with the UA. To put those totals in perspective: Austin Hill topped them all in ONE year, posting 81-1,364-11 in 2012.

Despite similar attributes and a superior on-field résumé, Hill did not get picked in 2012. Nor did Cayleb Jones a year ago despite accumulating 129 catches, 1,926 yards and 14 touchdowns in two seasons.

Two conclusions can be drawn from this: (1) It’s extremely difficult to stand out in the NFL, especially for receivers in an increasingly pass-happy sport that’s producing more and more catchers and cover men; and (2) if Griffey is going to make it, he’ll have to stand out in areas besides running routes and plucking passes.

The reason evaluators give Griffey a fighting chance is that some of those areas are where he stands out the most: character, work ethic, unselfishness.

“He’s a low-maintenance, loves-football, do-whatever-you-ask kind of guy,” UA coach Rich Rodriguez said. “And he’s bigger and faster now than he was a year ago. So he’s obviously hungry.”

One could argue that this offseason has been more productive for Griffey than any single season he put together at Arizona.

Griffey and linebacker Paul Magloire Jr. were the only Wildcats invited to participate in an all-star showcase, the East-West Shrine Game. By some accounts, Griffey was the most impressive receiver that week.

Later, at Arizona’s pro day, Griffey was timed as low as 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash – an excellent mark for a receiver standing 6-2 1/8 and weighing 209 pounds.

A few days later, Griffey met with reporters at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility. He was asked if scouts have asked him why didn’t catch more passes.

“They have,” Griffey said. “I have no control over that. The scouts’ job is to look at the whole film.”

Griffey caught 23 passes for 382 yards last season, the second-best totals of his career. He had 31 receptions for 405 yards as a sophomore, suggesting a breakout that never came.

Injuries slowed Griffey as a junior, when he was limited to seven games and 11 catches. (He did turn those 11 grabs into 284 yards, including a 95-yard catch-and-run touchdown against Arizona State that UA fans never will forget.)

Last season, the entire Arizona offense fell into a funk, and the passing game was particularly anemic compared to previous Rodriguez-coached attacks. Griffey caught 16 balls for 306 yards in the first six games of the season, seven for 76 in the second. He did not appear in the box score against ASU, when Arizona rushed for a school-record 511 yards and attempted only eight passes, none in the second half.

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“But when he wasn’t catching balls,” Rodriguez said, “he was probably the best downfield blocker that we had.”

A closer examination of Griffey’s work – beyond the numbers – reveals consistently physical play away from the ball. He also drew several pass-interference penalties last season.

Look back further, and you’ll find an effective, enthusiastic special-teams player. Griffey learned to embrace special teams, and they could be his ticket to an eventual NFL roster spot. If you’re a receiver in that seventh-round/undrafted range, it’s a must.

“He’s going to have to prove he can be that special-teamer,” Pac-12 Networks analyst Yogi Roth said. “I don’t think right now he’s elite enough to be an every-down flanker or big enough to be that big ‘X’ receiver.”

Roth compares Griffey to another former Pac-12 receiver who went undrafted: Washington’s Jermaine Kearse. Roth described Kearse as “trustworthy, low-key and an intense competitor” – all attributes that Griffey also possesses.

The similarly built Kearse (6-1, 209) signed with the Seattle Seahawks after the 2012 draft and became a full-time starter by his third season. He got in on the ground floor of Pete Carroll’s rapid rebuild and happened to possess some of the characteristics Carroll covets.

“I think for receivers, more than any position, it’s the team you go to – fit and depth,” Roth said. “If Jermaine didn’t go to Seattle as a free agent, would he still be in the league?”

Coincidentally, Griffey said the Seahawks were one of the teams that expressed interest in him, along with the Los Angeles Chargers. Griffey already has been drafted by a Seattle team; the Mariners took him in the 24th round of the 2016 MLB draft as an homage to Trey’s father, Ken Griffey Jr.

Trey Griffey hasn’t played baseball in years – other than his dad’s video games.

“My focus right now is completely on football,” Griffey said. “Baseball has done a lot for my family, but my sport is football.”

The odds of Griffey being drafted in his chosen sport aren’t favorable. He did not appear in seven-round mock drafts published recently on NFL.com and FoxSports.com. A scout for an NFC team praised Griffey for being a hard worker, a physical player and a good teammate but said he’s “most likely a free agent.”

Griffey believes in himself, as all aspiring pro athletes must, and expects to be selected. Whether that happens or he signs after the draft, Griffey faces a challenging path to an NFL career.

Hill is still trying after failing to make the L.A. Rams last year. Jones was let go by the Philadelphia Eagles and joined the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad in late December.

“Every player, when you put your name into the hat, you want to be drafted,” Griffey said. “It only takes one team to like you. We’ll see what happens when the day comes.”