Missouri defensive end Shane Ray was surely going to be off the board by the time the Green Bay Packers picked at No. 30… last week.
On Monday, Ray got pulled over in Missouri and was cited for marijuana possession. And clearly, that is unacceptable.
I mean, a college-aged kid smokes marijuana?
THE HORROR!!!
Seriously, who cares if Ray smokes weed? The incident says something about his judgment and so he’s going to drop in the draft.
Could he be available when the Packers pick? It now seems possible.
On Wednesday, Ray met the media, apologized for a second time for the incident and noted that he’s now getting calls from teams who draft toward the end of round one.
“I’m getting a little bit more interest from teams later on in the first round, that’s what it is,” he said.
So what are we talking about with this guy?
First of all, Ray is 6-3, 245, which makes him an outside linebacker in Green Bay’s system. Second of all, he’s a badass pass rusher.
In 2014, Ray had 65 tackles, including 22.5 for loss and 14.5 sacks, while winning SEC defensive player of the year honors. Ray is definitely a first-round talent and he’s probably a top 15 talent. He had a lapse in judgment, much like the Green Bay Packers starting nose tackle, Letroy Guion, who the team re-signed anyway.
We’re certainly not reaching in thinking the Packers would pick Ray.
Pair this guy with Julius Peppers and keep Clay Matthews inside where he belongs and you’ve got yourself a pretty formidable defense, providing the defensive line can at least hold their own.
The only problem with that scenario is we’re not banking on Ray being available at No. 30. If he’s still around at No. 28, we fully expect the Denver Broncos to pounce. Of course, stranger things have happened.
Ha Ha Clinton-Dix was supposed to be long gone by the time the Packers picked in the first round last year.
Agree with everything you say here. Cannot imagine he falls to 30, but IF he is, take him, keep Clay inside.
Monty I want some credit for this post.
I do to lol
I really dont think that even if they get a pass rusher early that it will condemn Clay Matthews to the middle, at least on a full time basis. They WILL get a ILB in the first three rounds, most likely round 2. I think that they will use Clay similar to the second half of last season, moving him all over the defense. Clay will still play a decent amount of OLB. If the packers take a pass rusher, it isnt because they plan on using CM3 fulltime at ILB, it will be because you can never have enough pass rushers, especially when one of your main guys is 34 years old.
Awesome football player. Many problems here. One is that he is one more incident away from getting a suspension because he was caught with this. Two, he is a bad influence who really doesn’t bring a good track record with him. He was thrown out of the SEC Title game this past year for targeting Alabama’s QB AND he smokes weed (against the rules, results in suspension). The Packers would be getting a dirty player who breaks league rules. But hey, with all of the arrests this past offseason, it looks like Shane ray would be a perfect fit in the packers organization!
Coming from a Detroit Lion fan…
if so, then is there a hidden motive for this post: i.e., “dave” assumes that his Lions will not pick Mr. ray in the first round?
Horrible troll. You have to keep it at least partially factual. We’re in a division with the LOLions and Vikingzzzzzzz.
Don’t get me wrong guys, great player here. There is just a lot of work to be done in terms of making him not a dirty player and some team will have to trust him. I certainly hope that it’s not my Lions.
And on top of that, the Lions have cleaned up (whether they meant to or not) by letting go of Raiola and watching Suh and Fairly leave in free agency. They didn’t re sign Mosley because he was caught smoking in London and before anything could be determined about Rodney Austin and the beating of his wife, they released him. New regime with new rules and tolerance level. There is no tolerance for dirty players on the Lions anymore. They also win now too, which is a nice for a change.
No way TT takes Ray. Not his method.