The Kansas City Chiefs held a workout for a few players at Arrowhead on Friday, including former Missouri Tigers pass rusher Shane Ray, per NFL reporter Aaron Wilson
Along with Ray, the Chiefs also welcomed wide receiver Justin Watson, tight end Josh Pederson, cornerback Brandin Dandridge, and defensive lineman Jonathan Woodard among the mix. The Chiefs ended up offering a contract to Watson when all was said and done.
It’s interesting that the Chiefs decided to bring in Ray at this point in his career. He’s always been a die-hard Chiefs fan and the idea of him playing for his favorite team back in his home region would be a wonderful story. Unfortunately, Ray hasn’t played a single snap in the NFL since the 2018 season.
The Chiefs brought in Shane Ray and Doug Pederson for workouts on Friday.
The Denver Broncos originally invested a first-round pick on Ray back in the 2015 NFL Draft when Ray was an acclaimed pass rusher starring at Mizzou. Ray had 4 sacks in his first season and 8 in his second year, but a series of wrist injuries would sideline him for long stretches for each of the next two years.
Following his rookie deal with Denver, Ray tried out for the Baltimore Ravens in 2019 and signed with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in 2021.
As for Pederson, he was a first-team All-Sun Belt tight end at Louisiana-Monroe but he went undrafted last spring and failed to catch on after earning short stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s the son of former Chiefs coordinator Doug Pederson.
Woodard is a journeyman who was the seventh-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2016. He most recently played in Saskatchewan in the CFL in 2021. Dandridge is also a CFL product after a few seasons in Ottawa.