He played college football for the BYU Cougars and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 2002 NFL draft with the 61st overall pick.
Denney attended Horizon High School (Thornton, Colorado) and won three varsity letters in football and two in basketball.
[5] Denney was two-year starter at BYU and finished his career with 156 tackles (92 solos), 16 quarterback sacks, 40 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 13 pass deflections.
On August 17, 2007, during the opening kickoff of a preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons, Denney suffered a broken bone in his foot.
On February 27, 2010, the Buffalo Bills announced that they would not be offering Ryan Denney a contract which rendered him an unrestricted free agent.