Logan Ryan continues to impress, draws praise from Belichick
Reigning Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco never quite found his groove last Sunday against the Patriots and one of the main reasons for that was rookie defensive back Logan Ryan. The young cornerback snagged two interceptions from Flacco while also not allowing a single completion against him. Pretty impressive for a rookie third-round pick. So far, the only hiccup in Ryan's season was the disciplinary action that the team took against him for a celebration Ryan did when returning an interception for a touchdown. Other than than, this kid is for real.
Head coach Bill Belichick may not always have much to say, but he was not short on words when speaking of Ryan and how his not-so-impressive 40 yard dash time was possibly the reason he fell to the 3d round.
NESN:
Though he has served mostly as a 'dime package' defensive back for the Patriots, Ryan has played in all 15 games so far and even started six of them. Because of this, he does not get as much play time as some of the other defensive backs but Ryan still leads the Patriots in interceptions with five, while also posting fairly impressive stats in other categories; 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, 30 tackles and a touchdown after one of his interceptions.
Hopefully the rookie can continue to impress, which would give the Patriots much more flexibility at the defensive back position come this offseason (as pointed out by NESN's Doug Kyed, article linked above). With Kyle Arrington and Alfonzo Dennard also playing well in addition to featured CB Aqib Talib, maybe the team will have more leverage in contract talks with Talib this offseason. The Patriots may have struggled in drafting corner backs over the years, but it looks like Logan Ryan could join Alfonzo Dennard and Devin McCourty as the few exceptions.
Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18
Head coach Bill Belichick may not always have much to say, but he was not short on words when speaking of Ryan and how his not-so-impressive 40 yard dash time was possibly the reason he fell to the 3d round.
NESN:
“Sure. I think that was a big strongpoint of Logan’s,” Belichick said about Ryan’s ball skills. “He was a very productive player in college. I think that a lot of the league-wide, a lot of the interest and the grades on him were high relative to his production. I think probably what hurt him a little bit was his 40 time at the combine, just in terms of where he was drafted.”
“As we’ve seen this year throughout the year, it’s not only ball skills but I’d say an awareness or an instinctiveness, if you will, in terms of when to look for the ball, having an awareness of the ball being thrown and near his location and anticipating routes and being able to react to those routes sometimes a little bit before the ball is thrown and in some cases, maybe if he’s reading the quarterback a little bit before the receiver can get into his breaks,” Belichick said.
“He’s had a number of plays like that, both in games and throughout the year in practices where you see his awareness and his instinctiveness, his understanding of the passing game and kind of getting that little one half step, split-second jump on the play. That’s shown up. He’s got good ball skills and good hands. I don’t think that’s ever been a question. But I think it’s that awareness and instinctiveness that’s obviously so hard to teach but it’s something that he just naturally does.”
Though he has served mostly as a 'dime package' defensive back for the Patriots, Ryan has played in all 15 games so far and even started six of them. Because of this, he does not get as much play time as some of the other defensive backs but Ryan still leads the Patriots in interceptions with five, while also posting fairly impressive stats in other categories; 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, 30 tackles and a touchdown after one of his interceptions.
Hopefully the rookie can continue to impress, which would give the Patriots much more flexibility at the defensive back position come this offseason (as pointed out by NESN's Doug Kyed, article linked above). With Kyle Arrington and Alfonzo Dennard also playing well in addition to featured CB Aqib Talib, maybe the team will have more leverage in contract talks with Talib this offseason. The Patriots may have struggled in drafting corner backs over the years, but it looks like Logan Ryan could join Alfonzo Dennard and Devin McCourty as the few exceptions.
Anthony Aidonidis
@aidonidis18
