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2015 NFL Mock Draft: New Orleans Saints Select DE/OLB Shane Ray at No. 13

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

With the No. 13 pick in the DBN 2015 NFL Mock Draft, the New Orleans Saints select...

Shane Ray, DE/OLB, Missouri

The selection and write-up were made by TuckJob:

With the 13th pick, the Saints are proud to select Shane Ray, joining former standouts Aldon SmithSheldon Richardson and Kony Ealy. Let alone that those names listed above could form the core of a ferocious defense, now you can add yet another to the list. The 14.5 sacks he amassed in 2014 are a school single-season record and ranked third nationally. His 22.5 tackles for loss also ranked third nationally.

Ferocious is the exact word I'd use to describe Ray. He's not the tallest, longest, largest, fastest edge guy in this draft but he consistently made plays and hurried QBs with his good rushing technique  and a never ending motor that seems to run at supernova. He's easily the BPA in the draft at this point which makes this pick an easy one for me.

Ray does have his shortcomings though. On tape you can see him get swallowed up at times by athletic guards/tackles with good balance and if his first step is matched he can be contained. He can also be eaten up on occasion in the run game nod his bull rush leave a lot to be desired. Usually though, when you thought he was disappearing and fading from the game his motor would take over and he's outwork a tackle and create a big play either for him or another front four of Missouri.

For the Saints this makes sense. He's BPA, he will help out a defense that wasn't all that great last year. With five picks in the top 3 rounds the Saints have a golden opportunity to acquire multiple players at various positions that can help contribute now and in the future. I struggled with drafting Oline for a while, but found the value just wasn't there to draft an interior lineman this high. So Shane given all these reasons made the most sense to me.

The Saints have taken a different approach this offseason, trading away a few core assets in the passing game to acquire some players who can help them run the ball. They also need another culture change on defense, and getting a solid pass rusher is a good start.

The Miami Dolphins are up next, led by Brocolis154033.

2015 DBN Community Mock Draft Results (so far)

Pick Team Player Position School Username
1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jameis Winston QB Florida State BuenosAires_Dawg
2 Tennessee Titans Marcus Mariota
QB
Oregon
scott tizzle
3 Jacksonville Jaguars Vic Beasley
DE/OLB
Clemson
Legoman0721
4 Oakland Raiders Amari Cooper
WR
Alabama
makeaplay59
5 Washington Redskins Leonard Williams
DE
USC
michael.hamper
6 New York Jets Dante Fowler
OLB
Florida
aszabo1
7 Chicago Bears Kevin White
WR
West Virginia
Barnestorm
8 Atlanta Falcons Melvin Gordon
RB
Wisconsin
OhioCityBrownsBeliever
9 New York Giants Randy Gregory
DE
Nebraska
Bizono
10 St. Louis Rams DeVante Parker
WR
Louisville
Ted Washington's Belly
11 Minnesota Vikings Trae Waynes
CB
Michigan St.
MConley17
12 Cleveland Browns Bud Dupree
OLB
Kentucky
Adam Rice
13 New Orleans Saints Shane Ray
DE/OLB
Missouri
TuckJob
14 Miami Dolphins


Brocolis154033
15 San Francisco 49ers


Manly and Loving It
16 Houston Texans


troy145
17 San Diego Chargers


Crawford_T
18 Kansas City Chiefs


JamesPowell
19 Cleveland Browns


Royce Groff
20 Philadelphia Eagles


Matt Wood
21 Cincinnati Bengals


styrofoamboots
22 Pittsburgh Steelers


Marquess of Rockingham
23 Detroit Lions


tmptplayer
24 Arizona Cardinals


a2342432a
25 Carolina Panthers


PaduaDSP
26 Baltimore Ravens


unoservix
27 Dallas Cowboys


Twilightcall06
28 Denver Broncos


Maverick Hunter X
29 Indianapolis Colts


Mudville
30 Green Bay Packers


syndrome
31 New Orleans Saints


pt_999
32 New England Patriots


stravaille