How Shane Ray Can Thrive with Von Miller for Denver Broncos

One of the most interesting moves of the 2015 NFL draft was the Denver Broncos making a move in the first round to go up and get former Missouri linebacker Shane Ray. Aside from the fact that adding a pass-rush specialist wasn’t an obvious need, the move to get Ray had to be somewhat puzzling to the rest of the league.

However, there aren’t really many teams that could have been a better fit for Ray than Denver, and a big part of that is linebacker Von Miller. In case you haven’t been keeping up, Miller has been one of the most dominant pass-rushing linebackers in the league over the course of the last four seasons. Even with one season shortened by a six-game suspension and a torn ACL, Miller has amassed 49 sacks in his career.

Coming out of Texas A&M Miller was one of the most disruptive players in all of college football. His initial step is terrifying, and he has developed into a complete linebacker. But for all his early statistical success, he has improved a great deal over those four years. Ray has all the markings of a guy that can become that type of all-around linebacker Miller has become.

The drafting of Ray was shrewd by the Broncos considering their situation. Miller is entering the last year of his contract and has not been given an extension. Along similar lines, defensive end DeMarcus Ware is 33 years old. So while there might not be any rush to get Ray onto the field, the need is clearly there.

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However, don’t rule out Ray on the field early and often, paired up with Miller in sub packages. The Broncos, with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is going to bring the heat. Look for Denver to blitz nearly 50 percent of the time next season. 

Much was made about Ray and his poor workout at the Missouri pro day. If you are still banging that drum after the news came out that he worked out with an injured toe, then you are the same guy who goes to a Michael Bay movie and then complains afterwards that it was just like a Michael Bay movie. There's no helping you. The film on him doesn't lie. 

Things might seem crowded in Denver, but Ray is accustomed to playing a role in a rotation at defensive end/linebacker. In 2013, he was splitting snaps with Markus Golden, Kony Ealy and Michael Sam. When he was finally able to be a full-time starter, Ray was able to get 14.5 sacks. 

Before I get into how Ray could fit in this Broncos defense, I wanted to offer a bit of a comparison between he and Miller. First, we have Miller while at Texas A&M, coming off the edge, showing that balance and agility when closing on the quarterback.

Now, we go to a selection of Ray’s plays where he, essentially, did the exact same thing. You want to hang your hat on the stopwatch, and then show me the one-second difference between their three-cone drills from these clips. The first step, the balance and the agility are all there.

How will Ray integrate into the defense as a rookie? Aside from the obvious, he can also work in sub packages as an interior pass-rush specialist. Check out this play where Ray gets the jump on the guard and uses excellent upper-body strength to get into the backfield from the A-Gap. 

This isn’t a skill lost on Miller either. Both players can slide or stunt inside and give an added dimension to the pass rush. How hard is it going to be for a poor center to call out blocking assignments if Miller and Ray are on the same side of the line of scrimmage? It will truly be a matchup nightmare. 

Any opportunity to get Ray and Miller, along with Ware on the field is a going to be huge for the Broncos defense. If anything, adding Ray should be motivation for Denver to bring Miller back, so this tandem can spend the foreseeable future wreaking havoc on NFL quarterbacks. It wouldn’t take long before they are giving the Kansas City Chiefs a run for their money for the best pass-rush tandem in the AFC.