Did Broncos Make Mistake Trading up for Shane Ray?
By Dan Armelli
Sep 27, 2014; Columbia, SC, USA; Missouri Tigers defensive lineman Shane Ray (56) gives chase to South Carolina Gamecocks running back Mike Davis (28) during the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. Missouri wins in the final minutes 21-20 over South Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Conclusion
This is a critical decision for John Elway. While he didn’t really give up a lot, and I see getting rid of Ramirez as addition by subtraction, the fact is he traded up for a guy that was issued a misdemeanor citation the week of the draft. If he busts and/or gets into more off the field trouble, it’s a really bad look.
That said, my worries about Shane Ray the person aren’t as prominent as my worries about Shane Ray the NFL player.
Two things I really like in pass rushers are hip flexibility – which Ray struggles with – and the ability to counter – which Ray has flashed. Most of the pickles Ray has been able to find his way out of have been on extended plays rather than, say, over pursuing then stopping his momentum and spinning back inside. He relies a lot on winning with his first move. If he doesn’t, his rush goes pretty much nowhere.
Hip flexibility is just something you’re born with. You either have the fluidity in your body or you don’t. Ray shows glimpses of being able to turn the corner with his base leaning up against the offensive tackle and is still able to maintain pursuit of the quarterback. But he’s just too tight to do it on a consistent basis.
The one good thing Ray has going for him as far as an outside (and inside) rusher goes is his burst off the line. This how he won most of the time when he ended up getting to the quarterback.
Ray struggled most of the game against one of my favorites, D.J. Humphries, but he did get him twice. Both times Ray beat Humphries simply with his burst off the line and beating him to a spot.
There were a couple of impressive things about that sequence that wouldn’t fit in a Vine. After Ray’s first sack, he had to come off the field because of a shoulder injury (you can see how hard Humphries had to tug on him at the end). Four minutes later Ray returns to the field. The very first play he comes back for he’s able to strip the ball from the QB and his teammate Markus Golden takes it to the house. That’s the kind of gusto the Broncos are getting from Ray.
Shane Ray landed in a good place as far as the talent around him goes, but he’s in a weird fit schematically. To me, his best fit is as a 4-3 defensive end, perhaps moving inside on passing downs. In Denver, while there will certainly be rotations, I think he’ll primarily play 3-4 outside linebacker on the strong side and maybe some defensive end.
What’s challenging is, as I’ve highlighted, Ray has trouble bending on the edge. His best success, and most translatable success to the NFL, as a pass rusher has come from the inside. The problem with that is he’s at least 25 pounds undersized to play as a 3-4 defensive end. For reference, the Broncos’ projected starters at these spots, Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson, are listed at 6’5 285 and 6’5 293, respectively.
Wade Phillips will have to work some magic. He has options; Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware are obvious beasts as pass rushers. Wolfe, Jackson, and Ray can be as well, when put in their own fortuitous situations. For Ray, leaving him responsible for inside gaps and sending him on inside stunts are things that will help him make plays and hunt the quarterback. Leaving him alone on the outside is suboptimal.
Thankfully, Phillips is the type of coordinator that fits his scheme to his players and not the other way around. And as Bronco Mike from Mile High Report highlighted, Phillips does play a one-gap scheme, something that fits Ray’s attacking style.
With all of that said, here’s where I stand with this selection.
The more I watched of Shane Ray, the more I liked him. Would I have picked him where the Broncos picked him? No. I probably would’ve started to think about him around the mid-second round. And, like I’ve said, there were guys still on the board I really liked (though it’s obvious teams were scared off by T.J. Clemmings’s medicals).
I do still think trading up for Ray was a “mistake.” What the Broncos gave up wasn’t the problem; it’s who they took. However, forgetting about where he was taken and who was still available when the pick was made, Ray is a good player that will do some great things for the Broncos, especially with all the other talent around him. I’m anxious to see him play because he will provide some fun moments, regardless of the fact that it seems I’m lower on the pick than most.
Time will tell how good Shane Ray will be for the Broncos. He does have a small red flag for being arrested the week of the NFL Draft, but I am not particularly worried about that. He seems like a guy with a great attitude, is very confident, and is ready to learn from his teammates. Hopefully, with the help of those teammates, he produces relative to the spot he was picked and proves me wrong.