If it weren't for Devin McCourty being drafted by the Patriots in 2010, it's quite possible Duron Harmon and Logan Ryan wouldn't have been drafted by them in 2013.
Ryan shared a little of the backstory on the McCourty twins "Double Coverage Podcast" last Sunday, and then expounded on it Thursday morning on NFL Network's Good Morning Football.
“I was in (McCourty’s) pocket," he said. "Coming into my junior year, when I watched Devin’s pro day and he crushed it, I just copied his pro day drills for a year. I did his exact drills for a year, and I called him when I heard that the Patriots were going to work me out.
“I called Devin and said, ‘Hey, what is the Patriots warmup, what are their DB drills, and what do they like to see?’ And I took all the Rutgers DBs and all the Rutgers guys I knew and we went to the bubble. Every day for a week, we practiced the exact Patriots drills that Devin told me word for word on the phone.”
Ryan said he did have to put on an act when the Patriots scouts came to the Rutgers pro day.
“I was like, ‘Show me the drill, I never did it before,’" Ryan said. "Then I went and did it with my eyes closed. So I think they were pretty impressed. Not only did I crush the workout, Duron Harmon crushed the workout and like seven other guys crushed the workout and Bill Belichick just started picking Rutgers guys left and right. But Devin gave me the answers to the test, and I practiced them and practiced them, like anybody would do for a big interview. I prepared.”
It likely went beyond these three players, as the Patriots had a number of Rutgers players during this time period.
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