New England Patriots kick-off in 26 days: profiling No. 26 Logan Ryan
Opening day countdowns are great. So are player profiles. Here at Musket Fire, we decided to combine them and create a Week 1 countdown-oriented, jersey number-dictated player profile series. Yesterday we looked at No. 27 Tavon Wilson , and the day before that it was No. 28 James White. Because today marks 26 days until the New England Patriots open 2015, we are profiling No. 26, cornerback Logan Ryan.
Selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Ryan comes from the Rutgers pipeline of players that Bill Belichick is so keen on.
Ryan has appeared in every game the Patriots have played since the beginning of the 2013 regular season, starting 13 of those contests and totaling 71 combined tackles, a pair of forced fumbles, 17 passes defended and seven interceptions.
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A few other notable stats of Ryan’s include the 1.5 sacks and pick-six he recorded as a rookie. He also forced a fumble in the 2014 playoffs.
Right now, Ryan is battling for a starting spot in the Patriots’ secondary, primarily against Malcolm Butler, Robert McClain, Bradley Fletcher and Tarell Brown. However, the preseason tilt on Thursday incidated that Butler is the frontrunner for the No. 1 spot.
Ryan’s snap count from the game compared to his fellow cornerbacks is worth looking at.
Interesting to see Malcolm Butler play only 15 snaps last night, but Logan Ryan 52, Bradley Fletcher 53 and Robert McClain 66
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) August 14, 2015
This shows that the Patriots’ coaching staff is still playing around with the depth chart after Butler. One guy that Ryan will be competing with as the month of August continues is free agent addition McClain, who impressed on Thursday night.
It was only one game, but Robert McClain looks like he could take a lot of Logan Ryan's playing time this year. Natural fit for the star.
— Pats Pulpit (@patspulpit) August 14, 2015
McClain was brought in to take Kyle Arrington’s role as the slot man. Just like he had to fight for snaps with Arrington, Ryan will be contending with McClain for playing time.
And if Ryan continues to get burned as badly he did Thursday night by Jeff Janis, it could be a long season on the bench.
This is the all-important Year 3 for Ryan. It’s time for him to step-up and take the reins as a starter, or else he will be overtaken by a hungry cornerback like McClain, Fletcher, Brown or even the rookie Darryl Roberts.
In case you missed them, here are the profiles for No. 29 LeGarrette Blount, No. 30 Duron Harmon, No. 31 Tarell Brown, No. 32 Devin McCourty, No. 33 Dion Lewis, No. 35 Jonas Gray, No. 36 Tyler Gaffney, No. 37 Jordan Richards, No. 38 Brandon Bolden, No. 39 Travaris Cadet, No. 41 Dekoda Watson, No. 42 Xzavier Dickson, No. 43 Nate Ebner, No. 44 Matthew Wells, No. 45 D.J. Lynch, No. 46 james Develin, No. 47 Michael Hoomanawanui, No. 48 Geneo Grissom, No. 49 Joe Cardona and No. 50 Rob Ninkovich.
Be sure to check back on Musket Fire tomorrow morning as we celebrate 25 days until Week 1 by profiling the owner of the No. 25 jersey, cornerback Daxton Swanson.