Tag: Jim Dray

81 days till the Cardinals’ season opener against the Bills

Jim Dray was the last player to make a reasonable impact while wearing No. 81 for the Cardinals.

We have made it halfway through this week in the NFL offseason and are a day closer to the start of the regular season. For the Arizona Cardinals, who open the season on the road against the Buffalo Bills on September 8 in Highmark Stadium, that start is 81 days away.

In 81 days, they will start their 2024 season.

No. 81 on the team is currently tight end Travis Vokelek, who joined the team late last season and will battle for the final tight end spot on the roster.

Who was the last reasonably impactful player to wear No. 81 for the Cardinals?

That would probably be tight end Jim Dray, who played for Arizona from 2010-2013 and again for a game in 2017.

He was a seventh-round pick out of Stanford who, after three years of only special teams basically, became a starting tight end in 2013. He had 26 receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns and was well trusted by head coach Bruce Arians.

He returned for a game in 2017 when the Cardinals were in a tough situation with injuries, showing Arians’ trust in him again.

He also was the offensive quality control coach under head coach Kliff Kingsbury in 2020-2021.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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Forgot about Dray? Former Browns TE gets Bears coaching gig

Another former Browns employee gets a coaching job this offseason, this time at TE. If you forgot about Dray, we will refresh your memory:

The Cleveland Browns history is rife with struggles since the return. Prior to that, the team had some significant positives in their history despite now Super Bowls. Jim Brown is still considered by many as the greatest of all time. The kardiac kids are legendary.

Browns fans from the previous era have so many names, teams and experiences to think about in a positive light, and enough in the negative.

Even some of their coaching staffs have been impressive. Their 1994 coaching staff had Bill Belichick, Kirk Ferentz and Nick Saban on it.

While the recent failures have been problematic, the team is starting to compile a strong list of former employees who are coaching at a high level in the NFL. As shared Sunday, five of the newest head coaches this year are former Browns employees.

Now we add another name to the list of former Cleveland employees getting hired as coaches, this time as a tight ends coach:

Most Browns fans haven’t forgotten about Dray. Signed by the team as a free agent in 2014, the former Arizona Cardinal was seen as mostly a blocking option. In two years with the Browns, Dray had 23 receptions for 303 yards and one touchdown almost matching what he produced in Arizona over five years.

Dray last played in the NFL back in 2017, appearing in one game with the Cardinals.

Since last playing, Dray coached at Stanford, his alma mater, for a year, with the Browns in 2019 and spent the last two coaching with Arizona. After three coaching stops with places he has played, Chicago will be his first not with a team he’s been with previously.

Cardinals assistant Jim Dray leaving to become TE coach for Bears

Dray had been the Cardinals’ offensive quality control coach for the last two seasons. He now gets a promotion to coach the position he played.

The Arizona Cardinals have the first change in their coaching staff this offseason. Thus far unchanged, it appears they will need a new offensive quality control coach.

According to SI.com’s Albert Breer, the Chicago Bears are hiring Jim Dray to be their tight ends coach. He had been the offensive quality control coach for two seasons.

Dray actually was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals out of Stanford in the seventh round in 2010 and played four seasons for the team at tight end. He would play eight seasons in the NFL and return to the Cardinals to play one game in 2017.

He was an offensive assistant at Stanford in 2018 and then was the offensive quality control coach in 2019 for the Cleveland Browns under head coach Freddie Kitchens, who was his position coach when Dray played for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals will need to hire someone to replace him. They could promote offensive assistant Don Shumpert, who has been on the staff for three seasons, the last two as an offensive assistant helping with running backs and, before that, as an assistant through the Bill Bidwill Coaching Fellowship.

If not a promotion for him, they could look outside the organization.

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Report: Bears hiring Jim Dray as tight ends coach

Matt Eberflus continues to fill out his coaching staff, which includes Jim Dray as the Bears’ tight ends coach.

The Chicago Bears continue to fill out their coaching staff under new head coach Matt Eberflus, which includes another hire on the offensive side of the ball.

According to SI’s Albert Breer, the Bears are hiring Cardinals assistant Jim Dray as their tight ends coach. Dray will be tasked with taking tight end Cole Kmet, who’s entering his third season, to the next level.

Dray, who played tight end for eight years in the NFL, started coaching in the NFL just three years ago. He got his start as an offensive quality control coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2019. Dray joined the Arizona Cardinals in 2020, where he served as an offensive quality control coach for the last two seasons.

Eberflus’ coaching staff has been impressive so far, which includes offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, defensive coordinator Alan Williams, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower and a slew of other assistants.

Here’s a look at how Eberflus’ coaching staff has filled out:

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PODCAST: Larry Fitzgerald’s return, Super Bowl, Cardinals offseason needs

Listen to the best hour of Cardinals talk on the Web!

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A new edition of the podcast has dropped after a week off for your listening pleasure. In this episode, Revenge of the Birds’ Seth Cox and I discuss a number of things — the Super Bowl, the return of Larry Fitzgerald, the reported changes to the coaching staff and what needs the Cardinals have at each position in the offseason.

Enjoy this episode! Make sure to subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast platform and to give it a five-star rating.

Here are the approximate timestamps for each of the topics.

(00:45) Intros and Super Bowl talk

(10:25) The return of Larry Fitzgerald, the impact and the cost

(20:06) When will it have been too long for Fitz?

(28:36) The reported coaching changes

(35:04) Offseason needs on offense

(59:15) Offseason needs on defense

Ep. 256

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Ep. 255

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Jim Dray’s reported addition to coaching staff means shifting on offensive staff

As Dray is expected to be offensive quality control coach, Spencer Whipple likely replaces Petr Badovinac as assistant receivers coach.

Nothing has been made official with the coaching staff for the Arizona Cardinals, but five members of the staff have either been let go or moved on following the 2019 season. Through a pair of reports, we know the Cardinals are adding Derius Swinton to the staff as assistant special teams coach and former Cardinals tight end Jim Dray to the staff.

Initially, it was not known what role Dray would have.

According to Adam Caplan, Dray will have a similar role to what he had with the Cleveland Browns in 2019. He was Cleveland’s offensive quality control coach.

If he is to be the Cardinals’ new offensive quality control coach, it means there will be some shifting on the staff. Spencer Whipple, who is still on the coaching staff, according to the team site, has been the offensive quality control coach.

If Dray will take on that role, it is quite possible that Whipple becomes the assistant wide receivers coach. Peter Badovinac, the team’s assistant receivers coach in 2019, was among the five who no longer are on the staff. Whipple was a receivers coach for three seasons at the University of Massachusetts.

That would fill the offensive staff. With Dray and Swinton coming on board, there remain a pair of vacancies on defense and one in strength and conditioning.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 256

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Ep. 255

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Report: Cardinals add Jim Dray to coaching staff

The former Cardinals tight end spent 2018 with the Cleveland Browns under Freddie Kitchens.

The Arizona Cardinals have not announced any firings or additions to their coaching staff but one name is being reported as joining Kliff Kingsbury’s staff for 2020. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, Jim Dray has been hired by the Cardinals.

Dray, a former tight end who was drafted by the Cardinals and played four years for them, was offensive quality control coach for the Cleveland Browns under head coach Freddie Kitchens, who was let go after one season. It was Dray’s first season as a coach.

Dray was not retained but apparently returns to Arizona.

Five coaches on Kingsbury’s were not brought back for 2020. Dray could be replacing Randall McCray as assistant special teams coach. Dray was a solid special teams player for the Cardinals in his career. The Cardinals also have a vacancy as assistant wide receivers coach, assistant strength and conditioning coach and two defensive slots.

Dray played in the NFL from 2010-2017. He was a seventh-round pick of the Cardinals in 2010. He played four years for Arizona, two for the Browns and then split time between the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers in 2016, appearing in only six games.

He returned to the Cardinals for one game in 2017.

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 255

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Ep. 254

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