Saints hire Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator

Saints coach Sean Payton has chosen Rob Ryan as his new defensive coordinator, hoping New Orleans can overhaul a unit that was historically bad last season.

Ryan, the brother of New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, spent the past two seasons as Dallas' defensive coordinator. He was fired after last season, when his defense ranked 19th.

Just days after returning from his season-long suspension in connection with the NFL's investigation of the Saints' cash-for-hits bounty program, Payton fired defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and said he would switch New Orleans' defensive scheme from a 4-3 alignment (four down linemen, three linebackers) to a 3-4. The Saints yielded 7,042 yards last season, the worst single-season total in NFL history.

Ryan has run 3-4 schemes for years.

Fantasy Impact: 

Rob Ryan's defenses in the last 9 seasons (points allowed rank): 24, 16, 13, 22, 24, 26, 18, 25, 31 (yards allowed): 19, 14, 22, 31, 27, 22, 3, 27, 30. Ryan's actual production doesn't live up to his reputation.

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