Missouri’s Shane Ray aiming to be among the first pass rushers drafted

INDIANAPOLIS — Shane Ray has carried a simple message with him into interviews with teams seeking a top-level edge rusher.

He’s your guy.

“If you need somebody to go attack from anywhere on the field and be unstoppable, if I get a one-on-one, I’m going to win it,” Ray said. “If you want a guy that’s going to make the play on third down — if you’re going to go get the quarterback and strip the quarterback, I’ll go do that. That’s what I did for my team — when they needed me to go do something and make a play or go chase down a guy with the football, I was the guy to go do that.”

Ray, a defensive end at Missouri, is among a trio of prospects hoping to become the first edge rusher taken in the NFL draft in April, with Nebraska’s Randy Gregory and Florida’s Dante Fowler also in the conversation.

All three players could be available for the Washington Redskins, who need additional help with their pass rush, at the No. 5 pick.

Ray, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound SEC Defensive Player of the Year, set a school and conference record with 14.5 sacks last season. He was used in a variety of ways, with Missouri asking him to drop into coverage, match up with ballcarriers coming out of the backfield, lining up over interior linemen and blitzing from the middle.

“Every team that I’ve talked to that runs a 3-4 defense has actually pulled up my film, and they have film of me dropping into coverage and making open-field tackles,” Ray said. “Honestly, I think they’re pretty pleased with what they see, and my confidence and my work ethic will show that any system I go into, I can fit in and I’m able to do whatever the coach needs me to do.”

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Gregory will likely need to add weight to succeed as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense, but teams are intrigued by his athleticism despite his lack of experience.

He spent two seasons at a junior college, missing all of the second after breaking his left fibula, and then played two seasons at Nebraska before deciding to leave after his junior season.

“I think my best years are ahead of me,” Gregory said. “I think I’m real coachable. I’m real smart so I pick up a lot of things. I pick up different plays real quickly, so the sky is the limit for me.”

Fowler, meanwhile, was able to make the transition from defensive end following his sophomore season, losing 25 pounds to increase his quickness and his range.

The 6-foot-3, 261-pounder played buck linebacker at Florida as a junior this past season — a position that, in the Gators’ scheme, was similar to a weakside linebacker in their 3-4 scheme.

“I can do a lot for the team,” Fowler said. “I create a lot of problems for the offense and really just stress coordinators out.”

A similar anxiety will likely persist among all three players until the first round of the draft, which opens April 30. Gregory said he’s dreamt of being drafted since he was 8 years old, while Fowler said he’s had similar hopes since he was 4.

Ray knows that which player is chosen first isn’t entirely up to him, but still would like to hear his name called at a certain time that first night.

“I think through my film and through my work ethic and what I’m going to show people I can do, the judgment will be made by those teams,” Ray said. “Hopefully, I’m lucky enough to be blessed to be one of the top 10 guys picked up.”