Logan Ryan Boosts 49ers Defense in Safety Role

Logan Ryan Boosts 49ers Defense in Safety Role

Rookie safety Jiand#039;Ayir Brown was waived by the 49ersand#039; On Sunday against the Washington Commander in Week 17, veteran Logan Ryan is set to make his first start in red and gold. Ryanand’s ability to seamlessly step into San Francisco and into the secondary is exactly why coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch decided to sign him in early December after injuries to Talanoa Hufanga and George Odum. And now that Brown is sidelined with a sprained knee, Ryan follows at safety.

I’m really glad we have him now,andquot; Shanahan told Greg Papa about the latest andquot;49ers Game Planandquot; period and I didn’t know [Ryan], but I played against him a lot and I always respected playing against him. I think he was a very good player and [He] always seemed like one of the smartest players on the court.andquot; When Hufanga and Odum were injured, the 49ers knew Brown was ready to fill in despite his youth.

But with little experience at safety after that, Shanahan said the team would target Ryan immediately. The safety happened to be on a cruise with his family when the 49ers came calling, and now, just a few weeks later, he has a chance to make a positive impact Sunday at FedExField in San Francisco and You’re always one injury away from a guy who’s not ready to be out there in some really impressive games and play a starting spot,andquot; Shanahan told his father And you can do that with some rookies and stuff, but it gets harder and harder and you always hope there’s a guy with experience who can handle it.

In an interview with KNBR on Friday, before Brown was officially ruled out of Sunday’s game with #039, Lynch explained why he believes Ryan and #039 are capable of taking on an increased role and It’s nice that his name is a very versatile man,andquot; Lynch told KNBR.

It’s nice that if Jian#039;Ayir can’t go, you can turn to a guy like Logan Ryan and feel very comfortable with what you have back there.andquot; Shanahan said Friday that Brown has a “chance” come back 49ersand#039; regular season finale next weekend at Leviand#039;s Stadium against the Los Angeles Rams. But in the meantime, she knows Ryan is more than capable of delivering and We were the only ones who played against him, he always seemed like such an experienced, smart player and a guy with a lot of experience playing a lot of different defenses and Shanahan told reporters and we brought him here when we had some injuries. He looked exactly as we hoped he would when he was here. Now that we have these injuries, he’s in that role and Heand#039;s looked exactly as we hoped. The head is very nice and knows what he is doing and the game is not too big for him.andquot;