Shane Ray Cited For Marijuana; Will Likely See Draft Stock Fall

It was just a couple of months ago, many were projecting former Missouri Tigers defensive end Shane Ray to be taken in the top 10 of the 2015 NFL Draft. Some had him going as high as third overall.

But over the course of a couple of weeks, he has plummeted down the board. Where it once looked like it was a given that he had a high draft stock, now the only thing that might be high is Shane Ray.

It came to light Monday evening that earlier that morning, Ray had been cited for marijuana possession after being pulled over speeding at 5:30 a.m. in Cooper County Missouri.

Shane Ray released a statement regarding the issue, via ESPN’s Adam Schefter:

"I’d like to apologize to my Mother, Fans and prospective NFL teams for my poor judgement Monday morning . I am embarrassed and realize there are consequences for my actions. I was not under the influence nor impaired , therefore I was not detained. Fortunately, Mondays incident only resulted in a citation. I will make better choices in the future. It is imperative that I continue to strive to better myself. My future NFL career has been something I have always dreamed about and is very important to me. I commit that my actions will represent that. There are no excuses here and I will take the necessary steps to ensure this will not happen again. I will not jeopardize my ability to have a positive impact on and off the field moving forward.”"

Of course, it’s no surprise when athletes are given what now seems like a mundane citation for a small amount of marijuana. But couple it with the other news we received last week, that Ray is nursing an injured ankle, and you have a recipe for a nose dive in draft stock.

Ray’s injury, it has been discovered, will not require surgery. But it still means that every single NFL team that was considering taking him is now going to be a little more hesitant.

Then you have the drug accusation.

While it is unlikely Shane Ray will get any kind of suspension from this instance, it doesn’t bode well to draft someone who already has a strike on his record. It is especially concerning to some who find it hard to understand why someone would mess with drugs just days before one of the biggest days of his life. It leads many to question whether it might be an uncontrollable off the field issue in the future.

Add the little police stop on Monday to the injury issue, and you’ve got a lot of NFL front offices flipping through their scouting reports looking at options B, C, and D.

Many are projecting that Ray will fall out of the first round. Where do you think he’ll wind up going?

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