Rex Ryan was the defensive coordinator of the Ravens in 2007 when David Harris was coming out of Michigan.
Ryan loved what he saw from the linebacker and told general manager Ozzie Newsome the Ravens should draft him.
“We had a pretty good linebacker in Ray Lewis,” Ryan said Friday by telephone. “Ozzie was like, ‘We can’t take him Rex.’ because I was bragging about him. I said I’ll start him at SAM linebacker. We’ll play a 4-3. I was going to change my defense just to get David Harris.”
The Jets beat the Ravens to it, trading up to draft Harris in the second round.