This week’s Monday Morning Charge of the top Buffalo Bills news from the past week includes a recent interview on SiriusXM with quarterback Josh Allen.
During an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Bills quarterback Josh Allen made it known that the organization is trying to build something reminiscent of the 90s.
“I hear about it all the time, about the early 90s,” said Allen. “Of, you know, when J.K. (Jim Kelly) and Andre Reed and Thurman (Thomas) and Bruce (Smith) had that city buzzing,” he added. “That’s really the feeling that we’re trying to get back, that we’re trying to get back to Buffalo. You know, our team has the right mindset to do it here pretty soon,” he concluded.
To Allen’s credit, the building general manager Brandon Beane has done in the offseason has put the Bills franchise in a position that parallels the 90s quite well.
Instead of Jim Kelly, the Bills have Josh Allen. Instead of Thurman Thomas, the Bills have Devin Singletary. Instead of Bruce Smith, the Bills have A.J. Epenesa.
Now comparing those players to Hall of Famers is wishful thinking at its best, but those exact players were in the same position as Allen and company back in the 90s. Both teams were run by highly-touted quarterbacks, though Kelly decided to go to the USFL first, who were to bear the weight of the franchise.
Much like Thurman, Devin Singletary is seen as a central piece that the organization is building around and has brought in Zack Moss to help prolong the careers of two while simultaneously adding versatility to the offense. Another similarity is the edge-rushing positions with A.J. Epenesa coming in to do what Bruce Smith did. Though Epenesa was not the first-overall pick like Smith was coming out of Virginia Tech, like Smith, Epenesa was selected to come in and make Buffalo difficult to play against. It was no easy task going up against Smith, Daryl Talley and the plethora of honorable mentions in the Bills secondary during their Super Bowl runs.
Though Allen said that team is trying to replicate the 90s, there is enough evidence to say that history has repeated itself and the days of the astroturf, the red helmets and the winning are back.