Denver Broncos: Five players facing make-or-break seasons

Shane Ray, OLB

Shane Ray is the most obvious of the Broncos players facing a make-or-break season, and it may not even be to keep his career in Denver going.

It seems like a foregone conclusion that Ray will not be in Denver after the 2018 season, but that doesn’t mean he can’t impress all 31 other teams in the NFL with a big season.

Ray was on a very positive trajectory early in his NFL career, proving himself to be a very valuable reserve as a rookie on the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 legendary defense.

In 2016, Ray was still playing a backup role with Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, and Shaquil Barrett also on the roster. Despite not being a full-time starter, Ray set a career mark with eight sacks and looked like he was on his way toward being the heir apparent to Ware for the 2017 season and beyond.

A wrist injury suffered in training camp landed Ray on injured reserve for the first half of the 2017 season, and when he came back, he was neither fully healthy nor in football shape.

As a result, Ray was not very productive as a pass rusher but showed incredible toughness playing through his injury and discomfort.

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The Broncos didn’t pick up his fifth-year option this offseason and drafted Bradley Chubb, putting the writing in big bold letters up on the wall.

Ray controls his own destiny, but after a fourth procedure on his wrist, he will likely miss time at the beginning of the regular season.

Ray needs to have a monster year to convince the Broncos — or any other NFL team for that matter — that he’s worth a long-term investment.