COLUMBIA, Mo. • Three days after a small amount of marijuana put into question Shane Ray’s place in the NFL draft, the former Missouri All-American is headed to … of all places … Denver, one of the few NFL cities where he can legally possess what could have capsized the start of his NFL career.
It turns out, Ray’s draft stock didn’t go up in smoke as some expected. The Broncos traded up five spots to select the former Missouri defensive end at No. 23 in Thursday’s first round of the draft in Chicago.
Ray, last year’s Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year, became the school’s seventh first-round draft pick since 2009.