Report: Missouri DE Shane Ray might need surgery, could be out 5 months

Lance Zierlein, who writes for NFL.com, reported Thursday morning that Missouri pass rusher Shane Ray might need toe surgery and could be out as much as five months.

That would put the start of Ray’s rookie season in doubt and could make him a PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list candidate. Might that drop Ray, who had been talked about as a top-10 pickm, from first-round consideration?

Shutdown Corner received texts back from two teams on Ray — one was concerned, one was not. The concerned team called Ray’s toe “a major concern,” and the one that didn’t said their team doctors thought Ray could wear an orthotic shoe to help correct the problem, which could speed up his timetable.

Ray had a monster junior season for the Tigers, collecting 14.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss in being named SEC Defensive Player of the Year. He declared early for the draft after setting the Mizzou single-season sack record but has been able to showcase his skills this offseason — including at the NFL scouting combine — because of the injury in his foot.

Although he worked out at his pro day, Ray turned in some sub-par running times. He might not be considered until the middle of the first round, and it’s possible this injury and Ray’s limitations as a 245-pound edge player could even cause a slide out of Round 1.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm