Former Alabama DL LaBryan Ray plans to sign with Carolina Panthers

Former Alabama defensive lineman LaBryan Ray is signing a deal with Carolina Panthers, according to a tweet from his agency.

Ray spent time last season with the New England Patriots after going undrafted in the 2022 NFL Draft, spending the year on the practice squad before going on the practice squad injured reserve list. He played this spring and summer with the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL and is the first player signed by an NFL franchise off the 2023 Stars roster.

A former five-star recruit out of Madison (Ala.) James Clemens, Ray was the No. 20 overall recruit in the retroactive 2017 On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Ray was also the No. 4 EDGE rusher in the class and the No. 1 recruit out of the state of Alabama. The three EDGEs ranked ahead of him in the class are 2021 first round pick Jaelan Phillips, Super Bowl LVII champion Joshua Kaindoh and former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Chase Young.

With the Crimson Tide, Ray never reached his five-star potential. Over five years with the Crimson Tide, Ray had 76 tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. His most productive season came as a sophomore in 2018 when he had 39 tackles and 2.5 sacks on the year. He won two national titles with the program.

After getting released by the Patriots in February, Ray had 10 tackles and three sacks this season for the Stars.

Now Ray has a chance to play once again with his former quarterback at Alabama in Bryce Young. Young, who was selected with the No. 1 pick in this past year’s NFL Draft, was named the starting quarterback for the team this week.

“Lofty expectations aren’t something new,” Young said, via ESPN. “I took the same approach in college. I’ve always taken the same approach. I’ve had experience taking the same approach to whatever expectations are. Whatever people are talking about, it is what it is.

“It’s stuff that I can’t control, and making sure that my teammates, my coaches, what we set in the building, that’s who I listen to. That’s the expectations that we come up with together and build together as a team, and sticking to that. I’ve had experience doing that in the past. So it’ll be obviously a different level of different challenges, but I’ll keep the same mindset.”