COLUMBIA, Mo. — University of Missouri defensive end Shane Ray will forgo his senior season as a Tiger to pursue a career in the NFL.
“I’m going to move on to the NFL and declare and forgo my last season of eligibility,” Ray said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon in the Missouri Athletics Training Complex.
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound defensive lineman ended his junior year at Mizzou with 61 total tackles including 14 sacks and 22.5 tackles for a loss of 92 yards.
“He’s developed from a guy that said ‘what can I do for me?’ to a guy that says ‘how can I help this team?’” defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski said at the news conference.
Following the 2014 season, Ray was named a consensus All-American and SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Ray led the SEC and ranked third in the nation for sacks.
“In the process with the NFL and getting his name in and getting an evaluation back, teams did thorough evaluations and every one of them projected him to be a first round pick,” head coach Gary Pinkel said.
With Ray’s decision, he becomes the fourth Missouri defensive lineman to declare early for the NFL Draft in the last five years, following Aldon Smith, Sheldon Richardson and Kony Ealy.
“He has had a tremendous career here and he’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever been around in my life,” Pinkel said. “It’s fun to see him mature as both a football player and young man.”
Ray is a business major who will leave Mizzou one semester shy of graduating.
“I approach this like the players are my own kids,” Pinkel said. “When a player is a projected first round pick, and he wants to go, then he should go because that’s what I would tell my son.”
