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 |
Philadelphia | 1 | 15 | 30-31 | 10 |
Houston | 2 | 32 | 6-8 | 14 |
Buffalo | 3 | 7 | 21 | 5 |
Green Bay | 4 | 19-21 | 14-15 | 3 |
New England | 5-6 | 11 | 2 | 6 |
St. Louis | 5-6 | 3 | 10 | 25 |
Pittsburgh | 7 | 26 | 27 | 31 |
Arizona | 8 | 6 | 9 | 18 |
Miami | 9 | 24-25 | 25 | 26 |
San Francisco | 10 | 8-9 | 18-19 | 4 |
Denver | 11-13 | 12 | 3 | 16 |
Carolina | 11-13 | 5 | 20 | 27 |
Detroit | 11-13 | 22-23 | 29 | 1 |
Cleveland | 14-16 | 16-17 | 16 | 32 |
Minnesota | 14-16 | 22-23 | 12-13 | 19 |
Dallas | 14-16 | 10 | 26 | 22 |
Baltimore | 17 | 19-21 | 14-15 | 7 |
Indianapolis | 18-21 | 16-17 | 24 | 30 |
Jacksonville | 18-21 | 28 | 28 | 13 |
NY Giants | 18-21 | 18 | 11 | 11 |
Seattle | 18-21 | 2 | 6-8 | 8 |
Chicago | 22 | 8-9 | 1 | 2 |
Tampa Bay | 23 | 14 | 22-23 | 21 |
Atlanta | 24 | 27 | 22-23 | 15 |
Kansas City | 25 | 1 | 32 | 23 |
Cincinnati | 26 | 4 | 6-8 | 12 |
Tennessee | 27 | 24-25 | 5 | 20 |
San Diego | 28 | 31 | 4 | 24 |
Washington | 29 | 13 | 12-13 | 28 |
NY Jets | 30 | 30 | 18-19 | 9 |
New Orleans | 31 | 29 | 17 | 29 |
Oakland | 32 | 19-21 | 30-31 | 17 |
--Andy Richardson