Logan Ryan Now Wants GMs to Think Safety First
Logan Ryan has decided to try something different in his quest to get a contract for 2020.
The man who started at cornerback for the Tennessee Titans each of the last three years (and the New England Patriots for two years before that) has asked NFL teams to think of him as a safety.
Ryan and his agent put together a spread sheet that was emailed to all of the league’s general managers and shows how his 2019 statistics compared to those of some of the game’s best safeties, according to NFL.com reporter Ian Rapoport.
Ryan was as versatile a player on defense as any the Titans had in 2019. He played outside and in the slot, the latter a little more than half the time, but he definitely played as a cornerback.
Last season was his best to date as he set career-highs with 120 tackles, four and a half sacks, four forced fumbles and 19 passes defensed. His four interceptions were one short of his best. He finished second on the team in tackles during the regular season and the playoffs.
While those traditional statistics look good by any standard, analytics paint a far less favorable picture of his performance and help explain why the free agent remains unsigned.
As a slot cornerback, he gave up more big plays (gains of 20-plus yards) and more yards than anyone else last year and his forced incompletion rate was average, at best. He is more than capable when it comes to contesting the catch but concerns about his straight-line speed raise the question of how often he actually is in position to contest the catch.
Plus, he gave up 13 catches for 200 yards in two games against Kansas City (Week 10 of the regular season and the AFC Championship), and Kansas City, of course, is the team every other one is trying to figure out a way to beat.
So, as Ryan continues to seek a new contract he hopes general managers will look at him differently.
