The Kansas City Chiefs need help just about everywhere on the defense and current Broncos defensive end Shane Ray could be a nice addition in 2019.
It’s no secret that the Kansas City Chiefs‘ defense has been a huge liability this season. They’ll definitely be making it a point of emphasis this offseason (at least you’d hope so) and a player they should target is Denver Broncos defensive end Shane Ray.
Ray is from Kansas City and played his college ball for Missouri, where he was an All-American and 2014 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Ray was the pride of Columbia, but injuries and being cited with marijuana possession right before the 2015 NFL Draft hurt his stock drastically.
It was a huge punch in the gut when, of all teams, the Broncos traded up and selected him 23rd overall. No one wants to see a local kid wear that ugly orange and blue, but things aren’t going well with Ray in Denver at the moment.
Ray was listed as inactive in the Broncos’ most recent game against the Browns and wasn’t happy about it.
Shane Ray says it was “disrespectful” to be told so late in the week he would be inactive.
— Ryan O'Halloran (@ryanohalloran) December 17, 2018
Cravens said he “disagreed” with Vance comment that he was playing best players.
Clearly things aren’t going well in Denver. If the Broncos and Shane Ray do end up parting ways, one would have to think the Chiefs would be high up on his list of places to play next season.
As I mentioned earlier, Ray is from Kansas City and he has a tattoo on his back of all three professional KC sports teams. It’d also be a big middle finger to his former team to sign with one of their biggest rivals.
Shane Ray already has the right tat. pic.twitter.com/4TsJHjkNYX
— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) December 17, 2018
Ray’s best year came during his second pro season where he had 48 tackles, eight sacks, and two recovered fumbles (one forced and taken to the house). The numbers haven’t been as great for Ray the last two seasons, but he was banged up in 2017 and this year has yet to start a game while recording just one sack.
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It’s evident that a change of scenery would do wonders for Shane Ray, but the question this offseason will be how much it’d cost to sign him. With two “meh” seasons, hopefully the Chiefs could bring Ray in on an affordable deal.
While not the most effective this year, Shane Ray would provide another pass rushing weapon for a team that could use all the help they can defensively. It’s also very possible that he’s just not in the right system anymore and the Broncos have clearly given up on him.
Would you want Shane Ray to return home to Kansas City and play for the Chiefs?