Though Kansas City’s offense was the primary reason the Chiefs got to Super Bowl LIV, it’s important to remember that Patrick Mahomes threw two interceptions in that game against San Francisco’s impressive defense, and were it not for Steve Spagnuolo’s underrated defense (especially the efforts of defensive lineman Chris Jones, who I think should have been the game’s MVP), it may have been a different story.
Certainly, the Chiefs’ road to the Super Bowl would have been far more difficult without super-DB Tyrann Mathieu, who signed a three-year, $42 million contract with Kansas City before the 2019 season. The addition of Spagnuolo was key to the Chiefs’ 2019 defensive turnaround, but Mathieu may have been even more important, as he played at a Defensive Player of the Year level, especially as the season went along and he got the hang of what Spagnuolo wanted to do.
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The Steelers didn’t make the playoffs last season because their quarterback situation was an abject disaster in the wake of Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending injury, but Mike Tomlin’s defense got a similar bump to the Mathieu signing when the team traded for ex-Dolphins defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick and turned him from a multi-position player to a true free safety. Immediately, a position of weakness for Pittsburgh since Troy Polamalu’s retirement became a decided strength, and as one tends to expect, all of a sudden, there was a top-tier defense in the Steel City again.
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Teams are always looking for players on the open market who can work in their schemes, and the Mathieu and Fitzpatrick stories tell the importance of getting the right defensive back for your system. If you strike gold, it can change everything.
Logan Ryan, selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2013 draft out of Rutgers, played four seasons for Bill Belichick before signing a three-year, $30 million deal with the Titans in 2017. Though he’s been primarily a boundary and slot cornerback throughout his career, he certainly learned the importance of positional versatility under Belichick, and he took that to Tennessee. In Dean Pees’ 2019 defense, per Pro Football Focus, Ryan played 21 snaps along the defensive line, 180 snaps in the box, 855 snaps in the slot, 243 snaps at outside cornerback, and 22 at free safety.
Now, as Ryan’s contract with the Titans has run out and he looks for another team and fit, he’s made it clear through his representation that he wants to be seen as a safety — or, at least, more than a cornerback.
Free agent Logan Ryan views himself as a safety, rather than the cornerback he’s generally listed as. To that end, his agent emailed all 32 GMs these top safety stats and asked them to compare his production. An interesting discussion to be sure as one of the top FAs looms. pic.twitter.com/NZni6BYmND
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 10, 2020
“Look at the numbers — 100 tackles, four sacks, four forced fumbles, the pass break-ups, the INTs,” Ryan said on the Thursday morning episide of the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football show. “I just feel like that’s not really possible too much at just playing corner, so could a team move me around a lot? I was a versatile player, a matchup guy, similar to a Tyrann Mathieu, maybe a Justin Simmons. I feel like that was more the position I was playing last year for Dean Pees, as opposed to a true traditional corner, so it’s hard to compare me to that.”
So really, what Ryan wants is to be seen as a movable chess piece, as opposed to being typecast as a cornerback. The self-stated Mathieu comparison makes that clear. A smart move as the league moves to do-it-all DBs. Last season, Ryan allowed 92 receptions on 132 targets for 1,098 yards, seven touchdowns, five interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 95.3. That’s a lot of volume, and the touchdowns allowed beg concern, but it should also be remembered that most of the best slot cornerbacks find themselves in high-volume reception situations.
And Ryan is right about the safety looks. We can go back to the game-deciding interception he had against New England in the wild-card round — the last pass Tom Brady threw for the Patriots. Here, as Brady tries to hit Mohamed Sanu on a quick comeback, Ryan is at safety depth, ready to take advantage of cornerback Tramaine Brock’s defensive effort.
AND TOTALLY REDEEMS HIMSELF pic.twitter.com/xWKS5HSqaE
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) January 5, 2020
Then, there’s this interception against the Colts in Week 13, when he starts off in the outside right slot, spins out to safety, and reads Jacoby Brissett’s attempt to receiver Zach Pascal. That’s good free safety work, no matter how you slice it.
And here, against the Buccaneers in Week 8, Ryan adds to the Jameis Winston Interception Parade on a Winston attempt to receiver Breshad Perriman. Once again, Ryan is playing safety depth to his half, and his adjustment to the ball is impressive. Yes, Winston helps by throwing up a 15-pound block of moldy cheese disguised as a football, but you have to give Ryan a few “right place/right time” points.
As Ryan pointed out, Charles Woodson, Rod Woodson, Ronde Barber and Champ Bailey all moved to the safety position later in their careers.
“When I came in the game eight years ago, no doubt I was more of a perimeter corner,” Ryan concluded. “I got drafted to do it. I started games for New England, tons of them, on the outside matching up with [DeAndre] Hopkins and Demaryius Thomas and guys like that. But Charles Woodson, Rod Woodson, Ronde Barber, Champ Bailey, those are my idols. Those are my guys I model my game after. I work on my pass-rushing. I work on playing the nickel position. I’ve matched up with running backs, I’ve matched up the top tight ends, and I’ve matched with some of the receivers. So how could you say he plays this one position?
“That’s what Charles Woodson, when he won Defensive Player of the Year, I think he opened my eyes to that, like this dude can make an impact covering the [Alvin] Kamaras and the [Christian] McCaffreys, covering the [Travis] Kelces and the [Darren] Wallers and also covering the Michael Thomases and the top receivers. So, they moved that guy around. I don’t know what he labeled himself as. I don’t think labels really help Charles Woodson. I don’t think labels really tell the true story of Logan Ryan.
“I think Dean Pees, a Hall of Fame defensive coordinator in my opinion, moved me around from week to week in order to make an impact in order to get the guy with the ball, tackle it, go punch it out or go intercept it. How can we put you in a position to make plays? And that’s what I was able to do.”
While I don’t think Ryan’s work in the slot and as a blitzer matches Mathieu’s acumen (or even Fitzpatrick’s work as a rookie in Miami, when he was one of the league’s better slot defenders), I do think there’s enough good tape to conclude that if a team wanted to do with him what the Steelers did with Fitzpatrick — turn him into a true deep safety with multiple looks in that capacity — he could be one of the surprise signings of the 2020 season and beyond.
As with a lot of players looking for the right home, all it takes is one team to get the point, and put Logan Ryan in the right place. Especially in today’s NFL, when deep safeties can make all the difference in the world.