Logan Ryan

[Super Nomario]

I wrote about Logan Ryan and the many roles he played in 2014 for ITP:
http://insidethepylon.com/film-study/film-study-nfl/defense-film-study-nfl/2015/07/01/what-will-be-logan-ryans-role-in-2015/
 

 
The spotlight is bright on third-year cornerback Logan Ryan of the New England Patriots, who played fewer than 50% of the team’s snaps in 2014 but figures to take on a bigger role with the offseason departures of starters Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, and Kyle Arrington. The shape of that role is unclear, as Ryan played in many different capacities throughout his sophomore season, lining up outside, in the slot, or even at safety, and playing a variety of man and zone coverages at various depths. His versatility gives defensive coordinator Matt Patricia options to determine how best to fill out the rest of his secondary.

 
Where do you he'll play? Starting outside? Arrington's replacement in the slot? Outside in base and inside in nickel? I kinda think it will come down to how the other guys establish themselves - if Fletcher and Roberts stand out, Ryan might be in the slot, but if it's Butler and McClain, he'll be outside. It might also depend on the kind of D - are they going to play a lot of man-to-man like last year, or will the scheme be more zone-based?

 

[wutang112878]

Where he will play is such a loaded question because the whole secondary is in such flux at the moment.  
 
At safety, McCourty is the stable piece who we know really excels at being the deep cover safety.  But I think there are huge question marks at every other position: Will Butler have a sophomore slump or will he continue to develop, how will the snaps be split between Chung, Harmon and Richards, can Richards cover, will Fletcher play well so we have a solid outside piece, will McClain play well so we have a more flexible piece??  I dont think we will have much of an answer to these until week 6 or 8.  Some example scenarios I could envision:  Butler and Fletcher play well so we have our 2 perimeter guys and Ryan becomes the slot guy or maybe McClain over takes him.  Or maybe only one of Butler/Fletcher play well and Ryan becomes the other outside and we just take what we can get from McClain out of the slot.  There are just so many moving parts and so many question marks with all of these guys that I think come week 8 Bill is just going to try to figure out what to make for dinner with a random bag of groceries.

 

[RG33]

Excellent write-up as usual Dave, good stuff!

I'm really excited and intrigued about what BB is going to do with this unit this year. I kind of like that we are going into the season with zero expectations, and the media will be playing up the loss of Revis/Browner (if they actually talk about football). I think with Butler, Ryan, Harmon, Richards, McCourty, we have some young talent -- and guys who are smart and can be flexible. It really will depend on if any of these new guys (McLain and Flethcher) can show anything and adapt to BB's coaching style. I think it will also be interesting to see what happens with Chung -- he was solid last year with Revis/Browner taking a lot of pressure off of him, but may be more exposed this year and see a lot less snaps as a result.

After we get through all the DG talk, this unit will really be the "make or break" unit for the Patriots with respect to earning a Bye and top seed in the postseason. I'm optimistic.

 

[Super Nomario]

Excellent write-up as usual Dave, good stuff!

I'm really excited and intrigued about what BB is going to do with this unit this year. I kind of like that we are going into the season with zero expectations, and the media will be playing up the loss of Revis/Browner (if they actually talk about football). I think with Butler, Ryan, Harmon, Richards, McCourty, we have some young talent -- and guys who are smart and can be flexible. It really will depend on if any of these new guys (McLain and Flethcher) can show anything and adapt to BB's coaching style. I think it will also be interesting to see what happens with Chung -- he was solid last year with Revis/Browner taking a lot of pressure off of him, but may be more exposed this year and see a lot less snaps as a result.

After we get through all the DG talk, this unit will really be the "make or break" unit for the Patriots with respect to earning a Bye and top seed in the postseason. I'm optimistic.

Chung is an interesting case. He did really well last year when he pressed and covered tight ends man-to-man, but he still showed some of his old deficiencies in zone, and Patricia rarely used him deep, preferring to line up Harmon in two-safety shells. If they want to move to a more multiple D, especially one with more zone concepts, he's unlikely to fit as well into the plan. But who does that leave? Do they trust Harmon's run support enough to play him regularly? Could Richards slide in as a rookie? Will they run more 3 CB / 1 S base sets to get more of their front seven on the field?