It’s easy to question a man who once got a tattoo of his wife wearing a Mark Sanchez New York Jets jersey on his right arm.
Especially after Rex Ryan had to make it into a Bills jersey a few years later, after Gang Green sent him packing as head coach and subsequently took over at Buffalo. That said, the Grading the Week staff is ready to start a crowdfunding campaign to turn that tattoo orange and blue for the Broncos if it means Ryan is serious about joining Sean Payton’s coaching staff as defensive coordinator, as various reports have suggested.
Rex Ryan Rumors—A
Try not to dwell on the fact that it’s been seven years since Ryan was on the sidelines of the NFL.
Instead, focus on how good Ryan’s defenses were before he hung up the headphones and joined ESPN as a studio analyst.
Over a six-season stretch spanning stints as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator and Jets head coach in 2005-10, his defenses finished in the top 10 in points allowed five times, including two years as No. 1.
Even more promising: His pass defenses were consistently among the best in the NFL during his senior year in Buffalo, when the Bills were sixth in passing yards and fourth in TDs allowed. Not a bad résumé point for someone who will inherit a secondary led by a pair of Pro Bowlers in Pat Surtain II and Justin Simmons.
While the point numbers allowed dwindled in Ryan’s last four years with the Jets, and his two years in Buffalo, the worst of his defenses finished 24th in his final year in the Big Apple.
By comparison, Vance Joseph, whom Denver interviewed for the D coordinator’s opening last week, doesn’t have a single top-10 finish in points allowed in his five seasons in charge of a defense (or two years as head coach). .
Is it possible that the NFL may have overlooked Ryan, given his time off? Sure. But it’s not like he’s been completely out of touch with the league. Thanks to his studio work at Worldwide Leader, she has never lost connection with him.
The best part: With Payton taking over the offense, Ryan could focus on what he knows best.
And no, we’re not talking about body art.
Calvin Booth—B+
A week ago, the folks inside the Grading the Week offices felt compelled to criticize the Nuggets’ general manager for his meager return on the Bones Hyland trade.
While we stand by the assessment that two second-round picks aren’t enough for such a young, talented and cheap player, we also need to remove the cap on Booth’s direction for what he did with the vacant spot Hyland left behind.
Signing Palmer High graduate Reggie Jackson after Charlotte bought out his contract gave the Nuggets something they desperately needed after Hyland’s departure: a capable backup guard who can thrive on the ball and make big shots in moments. important.
If the only judgment of Booth’s job around the trade deadline is whether his team has a better chance of winning a title than it did two weeks ago, then it can only be called success.
Anna Hall—A+
This is a name that the rest of America will know very soon, like, say, the summer of 2024 in Pairs.
Anyone who has paid attention to Colorado high school athletics knew Hall well from his days winning state titles and setting records at Valor Christian High School. Last week she made noise at the national level, breaking the US record in the women’s pentathlon at the US Indoor Championships with 5,004 points, just nine shy of the world record.
The 2024 Olympics can’t come fast enough.
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