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Ryan a glutton for punishment

Back in 2009, Rex Ryan took over as head coach of the New York Jets. He inherited a defense with some talent and built an even better one, but the offense never got things totally right. According to a report, he'll be going to a similar situation with the Buffalo Bills.

Reports Sunday morning are that the Bills will hire Ryan as their new head coach. Ryan will inherit a team that's strong in the area that's his bread and butter, defense, but is offensively challenged. Questions abound at quarterback, with the benched EJ Manuel the current in-house starter. There are several different running back options, and no clear 2015 starter.

But Ryan has a nice defense to work with. Buffalo led the league in sacks last year (54) and also ranked 3rd in takeaways (30). In fantasy terms. Buffalo ranked 3rd in defense last year (in a system that awards 1 point for sacks, 2 points for turnovers, and 6 points for touchdowns). It's the third time in the last four years the Bills have ranked 7th or better in fantasy defense. So there's that.

FANTASY DEFENSE RANKINGS, 2011-2014
Team'14'13'12'11
Philadelphia11530-3110
Houston2326-814
Buffalo37215
Green Bay419-2114-153
New England5-61126
St. Louis5-631025
Pittsburgh7262731
Arizona86918
Miami924-252526
San Francisco108-918-194
Denver11-1312316
Carolina11-1352027
Detroit11-1322-23291
Cleveland14-1616-171632
Minnesota14-1622-2312-1319
Dallas14-16102622
Baltimore1719-2114-157
Indianapolis18-2116-172430
Jacksonville18-21282813
NY Giants18-21181111
Seattle18-2126-88
Chicago228-912
Tampa Bay231422-2321
Atlanta242722-2315
Kansas City2513223
Cincinnati2646-812
Tennessee2724-25520
San Diego2831424
Washington291312-1328
NY Jets303018-199
New Orleans31291729
Oakland3219-2130-3117

--Andy Richardson

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