Bills Re-Signing Jerry Hughes Gives Rex Ryan No Excuses on Defense

Here's a fun game you can try at home: Say Rex Ryan's name. What's the first image that comes to mind? Often it's a clever sound bite or perhaps something about wanting a snack in the worst way.

But the mind spits out a different image when it drifts to Rex Ryan the football coach rather than Rex Ryan the charismatic entertainer. Take your pick there among fast, tough, tenacious, aggressive and many other accurate adjectives to describe a staple of Ryan’s teams: defensive dominance.

Ryan’s defenses during his six years as head coach of the New York Jets were all those things, often at the same time. However, each year his units succeeded despite a critical flaw: the absence of a consistent pass rush.

That won’t be a problem now for Ryan at his new coaching home after the Buffalo Bills re-signed defensive end Jerry Hughes to a five-year contract.

This was the moment when excuse-making died for Ryan in 2015.

The deal is worth $45 million over five years, according to Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News, $22 million of which is guaranteed.

The Bills’ investment in their defensive front is now substantial. General manager Doug Whaley has anchored his defense around two cornerstone pass-rushers: Hughes and Mario Williams.

Those two will be among the top 10 highest-paid defensive ends in terms of both average annual salary and guaranteed money (all per Spotrac). They’re supported by defensive tackles Kyle Williams and Marcel Dareus, giving the Bills three pass-rushers who finished with double-digit sacks in 2014.

Defensive lineman	Sacks
Mario Williams	14.5
Marcel Dareus	10
Jerry Hughes	10
Combined total	34.5
Number of teams with fewer total sacks in 2014	8

Hughes has recorded 20 sacks since 2013, which is pretty alright for a pass-rusher who became an Indianapolis Colts castaway and was given the premature "first-round bust" label. Days after the 2013 draft—a time when newly expendable spare parts are jettisoned—Hughes was shipped to Buffalo in exchange for linebacker Kelvin Sheppard, who’s now a free agent.

He played outside linebacker in Indianapolis before putting his hand in the ground with the Bills during the 2014 season—versatility that will be key now under Ryan. His scheme is quite familiar to Hughes and the rest of Buffalo’s quarterback-hunters.

Mike Pettine was Ryan’s defensive coordinator for four seasons when the two were in New York. So as a Ryan disciple, Pettine brought a similar approach during his single season running Buffalo’s defense in 2013.

Pettine’s year as the defensive boss was the first of an abrupt two-season turnaround. No team has more sacks than the Bills during that period (111), which includes their league-leading 57 sacks in 2014.

That’s why securing Hughes signals the death of excuse-making for Ryan. He often used his innovative defense-oriented mind to sprinkle magic on the Jets, producing units ranked among the league’s best even during dire times.

But the strength of Ryan’s defenses primarily lied in the secondary and stopping the run. He often lacked a true teeth-dislodging pass rush.

Year	Yards allowed per game	Total sacks
2009	252.3 (1st)	32 (T18th)
2010	291.5 (3rd)	40 (T8th)
2011	312.1 (5th)	(T17th)
2012	323.4 (8th)	30 (T25th)
2013	334.9 (11th)	41 (13th)
2014	327.2 (6th)	45 (6th)

Now with Hughes and Williams firing off the edge, Ryan has the tools to turn opposing quarterbacks into fluffy pancakes.

Any concern about Hughes’ fit in Ryan’s scheme after excelling as a 4-3 defensive end should be put to rest quickly. Though Ryan runs a 3-4, often that’s just a name, and he’ll be the first to tell you.

“We're not going to definitely play a 3-4 or a 4-3,” Ryan told Mattew Fairburn of Syracuse.com shortly after he was hired in January. “We're going to have in our arsenal the ability to do anything. As an opponent, you've got to prepare for everything because, if not, I'm going to find out what you're not prepared for and I'll attack you appropriately.”

Deception and confusion are central to Ryan’s hybrid approach that requires versatility up front—something Hughes has in abundance. He could be used as an outside linebacker in the base formation and then slide in as a defensive end on passing downs.

And as WGR 550 host Sal Capaccio notes, Hughes will now be doing all that in Buffalo throughout his prime years.

Under Pettine, the 26-year-old was an outside linebacker. The result? The beginning of boom times and a season when Hughes finished tied for seventh among all 3-4 outside linebackers with 59 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

Over his past two seasons, Hughes has developed into the ideal chess piece for a Ryan defense: a pass-rusher who’s comfortable and effective in different roles.

Year	Snaps	Sacks	Hurries	Total pressures
2013	621, all as OLB	10 (T8)	39 (T7)	59 (T7)
2014	807, all as DE	10 (T8)	40 (T5)	61 (9th)

Across three statistical categories, he ranked among the top 10 at two positions. That explains why the pursuit of Hughes was about to hit white-hot levels had he reached the open market, according to Carucci, with up to six other teams interested.

Now he’s Ryan’s defensive toy—and Ryan’s alone.

Over the past two years, the Bills have fielded a defense driven by relentless pressure, minimizing the time given to opposing quarterbacks and forcing mistakes. Now the core of that unit has been kept in the same working order and passed along to Ryan.

There will be a slight change behind the front seven with safety Da’Norris Searcy’s likely departure as a free agent. There’s already been change among the front seven, too, as middle linebacker Kiko Alonso was used to lure LeSean McCoy away from the Philadelphia Eagles.

But excuses evaporate when Ryan is handed a pass rush that’s logged 50-plus sacks in two straight seasons. The mission before him now: to make that pass rush and defense so suffocating that even another year of replacement-level quarterback play won’t keep the Bills from their first playoff appearance since 1999.

With Hughes retained and McCoy adding a dynamic offensive weapon, Ryan has the tools to win with defense, more defense and running. Maybe for the first time in a long time, March optimism will lead to January football in upstate New York.