Buffalo Bills: 15 best first-round draft picks of all-time

The Bills have had a very strong history when it comes to great offensive line play. One guy that was a cornerstone on the offensive interior for years in Orchard Park was center/guard Jim Ritcher. Buffalo took the two-time All-American out of North Carolina State with No. 16 overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft.

Ritcher would play left guard and center during his 14 years with the Bills from 1980 to 1993. He appeared in 203 games for the Bills, starting in 167 of them. While Ritcher was a mainstay on the Bills offensive line in the 1980s, he would best years playing in the K-Gun under head coach Marv Levy.

Ritcher would be the Bills’ starting center in all four of their Super Bowl appearances to date. Sadly, the Bills were never able to get it done in the big one. After getting beat by the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVIII, Ritcher would spend his last two seasons as a reserve for the Atlanta Falcons before retiring after the 1995 NFL season.

He would make his two Pro Bowls during the 1991 and 1992 NFL seasons. Those were years No. 12 and No. 13 in the league for Ritcher. He was 33 and 34 years old during those seasons.

Ritcher’s longevity and later prime are big reasons he cracked the top-10. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. His No. 51 jersey has been retired by the North Carolina State Wolfpack over in Raleigh.