HOUSTON — As Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and the rest of the team’s personnel department is watching the Super Bowl between the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots, they would be wise to keep a keen eye trained on Logan Ryan.
Ryan, the Patriots cornerback who finished the regular season with 92 tackles, 1.0 sack and two interceptions, would be an ideal free agent target as the Eagles look to rebuild the cornerback position from virtually the ground up.
Given the way that Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz uses his cornerbacks and the fact that the scheme is predicated on pressure from the defensive line and solid secondary play, Ryan could be an ideal fit for the Eagles because of his versatility to play both on the outside and in the slot.
In his four-year career, Ryan has posted 41 pass breakups and 13 interceptions.
As SBNation points out, Ryan was targeted 97 times and allowed 55 completions (56.7 percent) for 788 yards and four scores. That was good for a quarterbacking rating against of 79.9, best among Patriots cornerbacks. In his first preseason action of the season against the Panthers, he recorded an interception.
Eagles takeaways from Super Bowl week
Expected to be a mid-tier free agent, the Eagles likely would not need to break the bank to add an impact cornerback if Ryan is in fact in their cross-hairs.
The Eagles are likely to target cornerbacks both via free agency and in April’s NFL Draft. If Ryan indeed shakes loose from the Patriots and becomes available when free agency opens on March 9, the Eagles might have a leg up on the rest of the league when it comes to recruiting the 5-foot-11, 194-pound Berlin native.
Besides offering the chance to play close to home, Ryan is also a big time Sixers fan.
“I’m a South Jersey kid,” Ryan said this week. “I grew up with Philly sports all around me and Allen Iverson was the biggest thing at that time and one of the greatest athletes in the sense for being undersized and kind of had, obviously, a lot of heart. It’s actually good to see the Sixers on some nationally-televised games after a while.”
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Matt Lombardo may be reached at MDLombardo@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattLombardo975.
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