Jake Ryan: 2015 Packers Player Report Card
By adamczech
Jake Ryan
- Age: 23
- Ht./Wt: 6'2", 240lbs
- College: Michigan
- NFL Experience: Rookie
Expectations coming into the season: Normally, a rookie middle linebacker selected in the fourth round of the draft wouldn't generate much buzz. But since the Packers inside linebacker situation has been so dismal in recent seasons, Ryan managed to get a little more attention than the usual obscure mid-round pick. I don't think he was expected to be a savior inside, but he was expected to contribute and provide hope for the future.
Player’s highlights/low-lights: Would you believe me if I told you that Jake Ryan's tackles per snap (5.8) were more than twice the rate of Clay Matthews? Well, it's true. That's an obvious highlight. Ryan's lowlight came in week 16 against Arizona where he looked totally overmatched in space against any Arizona offensive player he was asked to cover or tackle. Getting back to the highlights, Ryan looked much better during the playoff re-match with Arizona, notching five solo tackles.
Level of Expectations met: It took a while, but Ryan eventually got his shot. He didn't make Packers fans forget about all the struggles the team has had at middle linebacker, but he did do some nice things. Is Ryan the answer for the Packers at middle linebacker? Not by himself. Can he be part of the solution inside that allows Matthews to move back outside? I think so. That's hardly high praise, but it's a step in the right direction.
Grade: C
Player’s contributions to team success: There weren't any games where we said to ourselves, "Man, Jake Ryan sure dominated today." There also weren't many instances where we threw things at our television sets following another Ryan blunder. After Nate Palmer spun his wheels and Joe Thomas didn't appear to be an every-down player, Ryan at least showed he belonged when he finally was given the opportunity. Is Ryan's ceiling higher than simply a player who belongs? I don't think so, but you're not going to have an All-Pro at every position. For a kid in his first season on a team desperate for inside linebacker help, just showing you belonged is pretty damn good.
Grade: C
Player’s contributions in the playoffs: Ryan totaled 11 tackles in two playoff games and only got burned badly once in pass coverage (early in the Arizona game, Carson Palmer overthrew the receiver). Much like he did in the regular season, Ryan was solid, but unspectacular.
Grade: C
Intangibles/misc: We'll know more about Ryan's intangibles when training camp opens this summer. Ryan's going to need a little time in the weight room to help him better shed blocks. He also could benefit from impact training that helps him become more explosive in tight spaces. To this fan's eye, nothing appeared to be wrong with Ryan's attitude or preparedness, but I think Ryan's true test when it comes to intangibles is happening now as he prepares for the 2016 season. Will he put in the time to take the next step?
Grade: Incomplete
Comments (27)
jeremyjjbrown
February 01, 2016 at 09:37 am
I think this kid will benefit a lot from an NFL off-season. He needs to get stronger and more confident in his assignments. I think he can be decent player.
However I think the Packers still badly need some speed at ILB.
I'll add that I've been vocal about my unhappiness with Thompson's job drafting 2011-2013ish but I think he probably did a very good job in 2015.
KenEllis
February 01, 2016 at 11:26 am
Ryan looks like an eager tackler against the run. He nicely attacked at the line of scrimmage. That was a nice contrast to year of watching AJ Hawk let the ball carrier gain yardage before making his tackles. Ryan will also undoubtedly benefit from an off-season of work.
Unfortunately, Ryan showed zero instincts rushing the passer. More alarmingly, he was SLOW, SLOW, SLOW and completely out of place in pass coverage. If he looks slow as a rookie, why would anyone think that as he ages he is ever going to get fast enough to be competent against the pass?
Evan
February 01, 2016 at 11:35 am
"If he looks slow as a rookie, why would anyone think that as he ages he is ever going to get fast enough to be competent against the pass?"
Because experience and instincts can make up for lack of straight-line speed?
KenEllis
February 01, 2016 at 12:02 pm
If you say so.
Of course, Ryan is a recently converted defensive lineman who showed virtually no instincts covering the pass this season. Furthermore, if experience were enough make up for a lack of speed in the passing game, AJ Hawk would have been an All-Pro.
Personally, I can't think of a single NFL inside linebacker who both lacks speed and is even average in pass defense. But hey, here's hoping Jake Ryan is the exception to the rule.
Evan
February 01, 2016 at 12:12 pm
I'm not saying Ryan is the second coming of Patrick Willis or even a starter going forward - the jury is still out. But I don't think it's that far-fetched to think experience and instincts can make up for deficiencies in speed, at least to some degree.
And who's to say Hawks' experience didn't get him to where he was - 10-year NFL stater isn't too shabby. But maybe without instincts/experience, he would have been out of the league years ago?
As John Elway put it in today's MMQB: “Speed kills. But not 40 speed. Play speed. A guy’s 40 speed might be 4.8, but look at his instincts and how he reacts to plays—that might get his true speed down to 4.6.”
RCPackerFan
February 01, 2016 at 12:16 pm
Football instincts can make a huge difference for players and how fast they play.
A prime example of that is Chris Borland. While he wasn't the fastest LB's, he made up for it with his instincts.
While Ryan may never become a Patrick Willis or whoever ILB, his instincts should only get better with the more experience he gets. Remember Ryan was a DE/OLB at Michigan. He is learning to play ILB plus playing at a higher level of competition. May take him a little while till we see his full potential.
Evan
February 01, 2016 at 12:21 pm
Borland is a great comparison. 4.83 40 yard dash, 4.27 20 yard, 7.38 3-cone.
To compare, Ryan ran a 4.63 40, 4.20 20, and a 7.11 3-cone.
But after their rookie years, which player would you rather have?
RCPackerFan
February 01, 2016 at 12:57 pm
I loved Borland coming out. His instincts were amazing. As a Badgers fan, I watched him his whole career at the UW. One of the best instinctual LB's I had seen come out in a while. He showed his rookie year what he could do. So for me it would be Borland.
The thing to remember with Ryan is that he was a DE/OLB at Michigan. So moving into the Packers ILB position isn't an easy transition.
I am really interested in watching Ryan next year to see how much better he will be with learning the play book fully and spending the whole offseason learning the position.
Packer_Pete
February 01, 2016 at 04:19 pm
Yes. 40 yrd dash results and other combine results can be misleading. Let's remember AJ Hawk was really fast in the 40 dash - 4.59. That's practically as fast as Kuechly, who has 4.58. Navarro Bowman was 'only' 4.70, but I think his playing speed is much higher.
AJ Hawk also was very quick coming out of college - 3.96 20 yard and 6.82 s 3-cone. Amazing that this never really translated into great speed in the NFL. Comparing to Kuechly again: 4.12 s and 6.92 s - yet I'd say Kuechly plays much faster than Hawk ever did.
And I really don't want to knock AJ, I liked how hard he played. And one certainly cannot play for 10 years in the NFL and not be a decent player.
zoellner25
February 01, 2016 at 12:03 pm
Let's remember TT waited until round 4. You aren't getting elite speed in Round 4, unless the guy is so raw he can't play MLB anyway. I want a guy who has instincts and can tackle. Ryan can at least do that. We still need another MLB in this draft
croatpackfan
February 02, 2016 at 05:11 am
It is interesting that you said how TT waited till 4th round. Oh I see. You think he should take ILB (who?) in the 1st round and pass by Randall, or in 2nd round and pass by Rollins? I see, 3rd round should be nice, but again - who? Who picked ILB in 1st, 2nd and/or 3rd round after Packers picked their choice and that ILB showed top performance? Who, you smart guys?
Evan
February 02, 2016 at 09:24 am
Kendricks vs. Randall is a fair argument.
To me, I feel like quality CBs are more valuable and harder to find. I can't fault those two picks.
RCPackerFan
February 02, 2016 at 09:58 am
I really liked Kendricks coming out. I would have been happy if they would have went Kendricks in 1 and Rollins in 2.
That being said, I am happy with our secondary having both Randall and Rollins.
dobber
February 01, 2016 at 01:26 pm
Bingo!
NickPerry
February 02, 2016 at 05:36 am
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=111962&draftyear...
Ryans Combine scores. He's not THAT slow, slow, slow. Personally I don't believe a man running in spandex out of starting blocks and some of the other drills is the be all tell all, BUT he did run a 4.65 so something is there.
Thegreatreynoldo
February 03, 2016 at 12:23 am
Exactly. ILB C. J. Mosley ran a 4.65 forty at his combine, but what set Mosley apart mostly were his elite instincts. It is perfectly possible that when Ryan gets acclimated to ILB after having played DE/OLB, he will look and play faster. Ryan was supposed to be a quintessential football player, so time will tell. I am still pretty high on Ryan.
zoellner25
February 01, 2016 at 08:48 am
Is Ryan going to be Ray Lewis? probably not. But for a 4th round rookie, I think he did pretty good. He's got good instincts and can make plays, just isn't as explosive or quick as CM3. With some time, he can be a very serviceable MLB. Better than Brad Jones anyway, oh the humanity.
RCPackerFan
February 01, 2016 at 09:48 am
To be fair. Not many are as explosive or as quick as Clay Mathews.
I agree with your take.
dobber
February 01, 2016 at 08:53 am
I think your grades for level of expectations and contributions might be a bit low. We didn't expect him to see the field at all, and was at least a small upgrade from Palmer when he was on the field. For a guy we wanted playing special teams while he got stronger and learned the D, he wasn't too bad. I'd give him a B- overall...he gets a C+ just for not being AJ Hawk or Brad Jones.
Razer
February 01, 2016 at 10:42 am
Other than AJ Hawk being a first round pick, I see a lot of similarity between Ryan and Hawk. Leaving his feet to make a tackle, trailing his coverage by a good step or two, getting caught up in the blocking wash, these guys could be the same player. Let's hope that we aren't coaching him into an AJ Hawk.
I'll give Ryan the benefit of the doubt and hope that the game continues to slow down in year's two and three. I still think that ILB is the weak point of this defense.
Beep
February 01, 2016 at 10:43 pm
Hawk would have been considered great pick if he was a 4th rounder. NFL teams will keep a guy around until they find someone better to replace him. If Ryan can also stick around for 9 seasons like Hawk, good for him. It's probably bad for the Packers if we have to live with a total of 18 years of exceptionally average MILB play.
TarynsEyes
February 01, 2016 at 10:32 am
If ever a 2nd year jump is needed the Packer defense needs a huge one from Ryan. Getting the inside stabilized will benefit the whole defense...unless we get a day one starter in the first rd and not another 2-3 year project that decreases our outside pass rush by having g to use Matthews inside yet again regardless how successful some believe the move had been. : )
Since'61
February 01, 2016 at 04:01 pm
Ryan plays hard but has a long way to go. Right now he is a solid 3rd stringer but has a chance to grow into a solid 2nd stringer. Still need to find a real ILB since there ain't no Nitschkes in our current group and we need to get CM3 back to OLB. Thanks, Since '61
Lphill
February 01, 2016 at 07:27 pm
Give the kid a chance was not supposed to do more than special teams, speed means nothing, my son was a D1 linebacker , slow as shit but either made or was in on every tackle aside from deep passes, so don't always worry about speed.
MITM
February 02, 2016 at 02:20 pm
Jake Ryan i believe will absolutely improve in year 2. He has a knack for making tackles behind the line of scrimmage which you cant teach. Problem is, him and Barrington are too similar in style at ILB, meaning both cannot start. Either or will work fine as the run stuffing/plugging type 34 ILB, but the other ILB needs to be a playmaking 3 down ILB which is what we do not have on the roster. I believe Ryan will supplant Barrington at one spot and i have a pipe dream where TT opens up the wallet and signs Danny Trevathan. The Broncos will have to pay Von Miller top pass rusher money, and also have to pay Brock Osweiler as a starting Qb since he is an unrestricted free agent, and Manning almost certainly will be gone. Also, one of their D tackles is an UFA, so i can see Trevathan hitting the market. He is exactly what we need next to Ryan or Barrington. Like i said the Broncos hands are tied with Miller and Osweiler and i think their logic will be "well at least we can keep 3/4 of our LB corps in tact" (Ware Miller Marshall) making Trevathan the odd man out. If only..
4thand10
February 02, 2016 at 03:19 pm
I always get conflicted EVERYTIME we have discussions on linebackers which is seemingly every year since moving to the 3-4. Do linebackers have a certain amount of coverage responsibilities...yes but their MAIN job is to stop the run, QB spy, especially when there are only 2-3 DT or Nose on the LOS. Star running backs and Tight ends are almost always better athletes than linebackers so why place that responsibility on the linebacker?? Maybe I'm just old school, but the idea of a "coverage " linebacker who also can punish RB's is almost a laughable concept. How many high round picks do we have to throw at the LB position before recognizing it's a flawed concept. I would almost rather see a 4-3 with an extra Safety to handle tight end coverage issues. But like I said, I'm kinda old school.
MITM
February 02, 2016 at 03:48 pm
Navorro Bowman is an example of a true ILB who wasnt a first round pick that can rush, cover very well and stop the run. Jamie Collins from New England is another fine example. The horses are out there you just have to find them and then you will see the difference it makes for your defense. The Cardinals made Deone Buccanon an ILB and i think now we will see the trend where more of these oversized safeties are getting plugged in as ILBs due to the success he had with it. If you have a LB that can hold their own in coverage on a tight end or a running back its just common sense that it allows you to be more creative defensively. However at this point that type of player can still be considered a luxury rather than a necessity, but that logic is on borrowed time in todays NFL. Its becoming a necessity.