Shane Ray’s performance throughout the season has caught the attention of virtually everyone — fans, teammates, scouts — and especially his head coach.
During his weekly press conference, Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel praised the redshirt junior’s competitiveness on the field and gave him a rare distinction.
“Shane is such a great competitor,” Pinkel said. “He’s one of the great competitors I’ve ever been around. I’d put him in my Top-5 since I’ve been coaching.”
Always known for his incredible speed off the edge, Ray had a big impact last season as a reserve, but no one quite knew what to expect with an expanded role as a starter. Safe to say, Ray has exceeded expectations.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound lineman recently broke the school record for sacks in a single season. He recorded his 12th sack of the season in Missouri’s last game against Kentucky and has three games left to distance himself even further from the likes of Aldon Smith and Michael Sam in the Missouri record books.
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His 12 sacks and 16 tackles for loss both lead the SEC.
From an NFL Draft perspective, arguably no college player has improved his draft stock this season than Ray. Prior to this year, Ray was considered a “tweener” who could expect to be drafted at some point on the second day (2nd or 3rd round).
Thanks to his breakout season, Ray’s size isn’t seen as big of an issue considering how dominant his speed makes him in the pass rush. Scouts now project him a lock for the Top 10 and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. even had Ray at No. 7 in his most recent 2014 NFL Draft Big Board.
RELATED:Â Ray breaks the mold: From ‘tweener’ to top NFL Draft prospect
Pinkel has seen Ray’s improvement first-hand and credits his maturity to the immense success he’s had this season.
“He’s got great ability, he’s matured and has become a lot better football player with his work ethic,” Pinkel said of his standout lineman. “When he goes out there he plays at a different competitive level. He’s an example of a guy last year who did a lot of good things, but he has now taken his game to a whole different level. It’s really neat to see that.”
Drew Laing will be providing analysis and insight on Florida, Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina.
