Logan Daniel Ryan (born February 9, 1991) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights as a cornerback and was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft. Ryan also played for the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and San Francisco 49ers. He played cornerback for the first seven seasons of his career before switching to safety in 2020 and playing the position in his last four seasons. Since retiring from playing, Ryan has worked as an NFL analyst for CBS television broadcasts.
Early life A native of Berlin, New Jersey, Ryan attended Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees, New Jersey, and played for the Eastern Vikings high school football team. He was an all-state selection at both cornerback and quarterback. Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Ryan was ranked the No. 32 cornerback prospect in his class.
College career Ryan played for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team. He was a second-team All-Big East Conference selection as a sophomore in 2011 and was a first-team All-Big East selection as a junior in 2012.
Ryan was also named a first-team All-American by Pro Football Weekly in 2012.
On December 31, 2012, Ryan announced that he would forgo his senior year at Rutgers and declared for the 2013 NFL draft.
Professional career Pre-draft Coming out of Rutgers, Ryan was projected to be a third-round draft pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He attended the NFL Combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 13, 2013, Ryan participated at Rutgers' pro day along with Marcus Cooper, Duron Harmon, Steve Beauharnais, Mark Harrison, Brandon Jones, Jawan Jamison, Khaseem Greene, and seven others. NFLDraftScout.com ranked him the 13th best cornerback prospect in the draft.
New England Patriots
2013 season The New England Patriots selected Ryan in the third round (83rd overall) of the 2013 NFL draft. He was the 14th cornerback drafted in 2013. On May 16, 2013, Ryan signed a four-year, $2.77 million contract that included a signing bonus of $563,252.
Ryan competed for a starting cornerback job behind Alfonzo Dennard, Aqib Talib, Kyle Arrington, and Ras-I Dowling. Head coach Bill Belichick named Ryan the fourth cornerback on the Patriots' depth chart to begin the 2013 season, behind Dennard, Talib, and Arrington.
Ryan made his NFL debut in the narrow season-opening 23–21 victory over the Buffalo Bills but did not record any statistics. During a Week 6 30–27 victory over the New Orleans Saints, Ryan made his first NFL start, yet recorded no statistics. In the next game against the New York Jets, Ryan recorded four solo tackles, a pass deflection, and his first NFL interception off a pass from quarterback Geno Smith during the 27–30 road loss. Ryan returned the interception for a 79-yard touchdown, marking the first of his career. The following week against the Miami Dolphins, Ryan had five tackles, a pass deflection, forced a fumble, and was credited with the first 1.5 sacks of his career after taking down Ryan Tannehill in the 27–17 victory.
During a Week 11 24–20 road loss to the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, Ryan had a pass deflection. He was named the starter over Alfonzo Dennard for the next game against the Denver Broncos, who had been battling a knee injury. Ryan finished the 34–31 comeback victory with four tackles, a pass deflection, and an interception off a pass thrown by Peyton Manning. The following week against the Houston Texans, Ryan started in place of Dennard, who was inactive, and recorded three solo tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass attempt by Case Keenum during the 34–31 road victory.
During Week 15 against the Dolphins, Ryan recorded two tackles and a pass deflection in the 24–20 road loss. In the next game against the Baltimore Ravens, he had a tackle, a season-high three pass deflections, and intercepted Joe Flacco twice during the 41–7 road victory.
Ryan finished his rookie year with 35 combined tackles (29 solo), 1.5 sacks, five interceptions, 10 pass deflections, and a forced fumble in 16 games and seven starts. The Patriots finished the 2013 season atop the AFC East with a 12–4 record and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. Ryan made his postseason debut in the Divisional Round against the Indianapolis Colts and recorded four tackles during the 43–22 victory. During the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos, Ryan had eight tackles in the 26–16 road loss.
2014 season
Ryan competed against Alfonzo Dennard, Darrelle Revis, Kyle Arrington, and Brandon Browner for the vacant starting cornerback position left by the departure of Aqib Talib in free agency. Ryan was named the third cornerback on the Patriots' depth chart to begin the regular season.
During the season-opening 33–20 road loss to the Miami Dolphins, Ryan had a tackle and a forced fumble. In the next game against the Minnesota Vikings, he earned his first start of the season after Dennard was unable to play due to a shoulder injury. Ryan finished the 30–7 victory with three tackles, two pass deflections, and an interception off of Teddy Bridgewater. The following week against the Oakland Raiders, Ryan had a season-high four solo tackles and a pass deflection in the 16–9 victory.
During a Week 11 42–20 road victory over the Colts, Ryan had three tackles and two pass deflections. In the next game against the Detroit Lions, he recorded a tackle, a pass deflection, and an interception off of Matthew Stafford during the 34–9 victory. During Week 16 against the Jets, Ryan had a season-high five combined tackles in the narrow 17–16 road victory. He was named the starter for the regular season finale against the Bills after Alfonzo Dennard suffered a hamstring injury earlier in the week. Ryan finished the 17–9 loss tying his season-high of five combined tackles.
Ryan finished his second professional season with 42 combined tackles (29 solo), six pass deflections, two interceptions, and a forced fumble in 16 games and six starts. The Patriots finished the season atop the AFC East with a 12–4 record and earned a first-round bye in the playoffs. In the Divisional Round against the Ravens, Ryan had a tackle and a forced fumble during the 35–31 victory. During the AFC Championship Game against the Colts, he recorded two tackles in the 45–7 victory as the Patriots advanced to Super Bowl XLIX. In the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks, Ryan had a tackle and a pass deflection during the 28–24 victory.
2015 season Ryan competed with Malcolm Butler, Justin Green, Bradley Fletcher, and Tarell Brown for the vacant starting cornerback positions throughout training camp after Darrelle Revis, Alfonzo Dennard, Kyle Arrington, and Brandon Browner left during the off season. Head coach Bill Belichick named Ryan the third cornerback on the depth chart behind Malcolm Butler and Tarell Brown to start the season.
During a Week 2 40–32 victory over the Bills, Ryan recorded four combined tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted Tyrod Taylor once. The following week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he made his first start of the season after Tarell Brown was unable to play due to a foot injury. Ryan finished the 51–17 victory with four tackles. Two weeks later against the Dallas Cowboys, he had three combined tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass attempt by quarterback Brandon Weeden in the 30–6 road victory.
During Week 6 against the Colts, Ryan recorded a season-high nine combined tackles and a pass deflection during the 34–27 road victory. After the game, he was named the indefinite starting cornerback for the rest of the season, replacing Tarell Brown who was placed on injured reserve. Two weeks later against the Dolphins on Thursday Night Football, Ryan had a team-high seven tackles, a pass deflection, and an interception in the 36–7 victory. In the next game against the Washington Redskins, he recorded six tackles, two pass deflections, and intercepted Kirk Cousins once during the 27–10 victory.
During a narrow Week 10 27–26 road victory over the New York Giants, Ryan had three tackles and a pass deflection. In the next game against the Bills on Monday Night Football, he recorded a season-high and team-leading nine tackles to go along with a pass deflection during the 20–13 victory. The following week against the Broncos on Sunday Night Football, Ryan had four tackles and four pass deflections in the 30–24 overtime road loss. Two weeks later against the Texans on Sunday Night Football, he recorded four tackles and two pass deflections during the 27–6 road victory.
Ryan finished the 2015 season with 74 combined tackles (58 solo), a then career-high 14 pass deflections, and four interceptions in 16 games and 14 starts. The Patriots finished atop the AFC East with a 12–4 record and earned a playoff berth. In the Divisional Round against the Kansas City Chiefs, Ryan made his first NFL postseason start and recorded a team-high nine tackles (tied with Patrick Chung) during the 27–20 victory. During the AFC Championship Game against the Broncos, Ryan had five solo tackles and a pass deflection in the narrow 20–18 road loss.
2016 season Ryan was named the starting cornerback, alongside Malcolm Butler, for the second consecutive season.
During the season-opener against the Arizona Cardinals, Ryan recorded six tackles and a pass deflection in the narrow 23–21 road victory. In the next game against the Dolphins, he had seven tackles and a forced fumble during the 31–24 victory. The following week against the Texans on Thursday Night Football, Ryan recorded four tackles and a pass deflection in the 27–0 shutout victory.
During Week 4 against the Bills, Ryan had a career-high 17 tackles during the 16–0 shutout loss. He was delegated to the third cornerback on the depth chart for Weeks 7–8 after Eric Rowe emerged as the starter after being inactive for the first five games while rehabbing an ankle injury. During Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers, Ryan was moved to starting nickelback after struggling against receivers as the starting outside cornerback while Rowe replaced starting outside cornerback as Ryan took over slot coverage duties from Patrick Chung. Ryan finished the 30–17 road victory with three tackles and two pass deflections. In the next game against the Jets, he recorded a team-high seven tackles and two pass deflections during the 22–17 road loss. Ryan developed into a viable starting nickelback and gave up only four receptions on 11 targets in Weeks 11 and 12.
During Week 13 against the Los Angeles Rams, Ryan had five tackles and his first NFL sack on Jared Goff in the 26–10 victory. Two weeks later against the Broncos, Ryan recorded seven tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted Trevor Siemian once in the 16–3 road victory. Through Weeks 11–16, Ryan was called for one penalty and allowed no touchdown receptions and only 11 catches on 30 pass attempts. In the regular-season finale against the Dolphins, he had seven tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted Ryan Tannehill once during the 35–14 road victory.