The 10 best running backs in the history of the Buffalo Bills

The running back position is one of the more highly-favored positions, from a fan's perspective, in the game of football. For NFL fans, it doesn't get much better than watching highlights of guys from the likes of Jim Brown, to Walter Payton, to Barry Sanders. But, for Buffalo Bills fans, Bills Mafia has been around to see some legends of their own.

Buffalo hasn't always had the solution at running back, but if you take the entirety of this franchise's history and look at it through an objective lens, the Bills have certainly had their fair share of talent and, dare to say, a handful of elite running backs come through the building.

But, which Bills running backs reign supreme above the rest? And, how does one differentiate the "best" of the long history of players in this group? We have the answer, and before we dive in, let's talk about how we got there.

Criteria for selection

Of course, when looking at historical rankings, it is hard to argue with the notion that "stats don't lie," and justifiably so. Therefore, one of the top criteria for selection has to be career rushing yards with the Bills. Now, that's not necessarily the end-all, be-all.

If you look at the Bills' all-time rushing list, it's hard to argue with the majority of those guys being placed on a list like this one, crowning the "all-time greats," so to speak. But, one also has to consider something like rushing yards per game and just how much of a contributor each running back was to its offense.

Josh Allen is already inside the top 10 all-time rushing list, but he's obviously not going to appear on a list of running backs. So, throw his name out for now.

We're going to dive into the top backs this Bills franchise has ever seen, using their overall career and game-by-game production as the top qualifiers.

Honorable mentions:
C.J. Spiller (oh, what should have been)
James Cook (should find his way onto the list soon)
Wray Carlton (no. 8 on the all-time Bills rushing list, but just 38.7 yards per game)

The top 10 running backs in the history of the Buffalo Bills

10. Marshawn Lynch - 150 WORDS

Checking in at no. 10 on our list and kicking things off is a guy who goes by the alter ego "Beast Mode." And, while Marshawn Lynch sits no. 15 on the Bills' all-time rushing list and went on to do much of his damage with the Seattle Seahawks, he still makes the cut because of his 61.4 rushing yards per game, which comes in higher than the likes of the above honorable mentions and even some other guys coming up next.

Lynch was a first-round pick out of California back in 2007 and would go on to enjoy a lengthy 13-year career in the NFL, finishing with 10,413 yards in total (2,765 with the Bills). In the three and a half seasons spent with Buffalo, Lynch tallied a pair of 1,000-yard campaigns and a Pro Bowl nod.

They don't make running backs like they once did, with many careers lasting just a handful of years nowadays. But, Lynch was a rare breed.

9. Cookie Gilchrist

While he might not crack the top 10 on the Bills' all-time rushing list, Cookie Gilchrist makes it on ours, here, solely based off such a remarkably awesome name.

Kidding.

Gilchrist has one of the better names in Bills history, but he was also a very efficient back for the team during his stint in Buffalo. If you were to rank the Bills' all-time running backs based on rushing yards per game, he'd check in at no. 3, having averaged 72.8 yards per contest.

Gilchrist's story is an intriguing one, as he signed a pro contract with the Browns as a junior in high school which wound up being against the rules. So, he ended up going away to play in Canada before finally joining the Bills in 1962. Gilchrist would go on to play three seasons in Buffalo, each one resulting in a Pro Bowl bid and two of them seeing him All Pro Honors.

Believe it or not, as a rookie, he won the AFL Most Valuable Player award. As for his three years with Buffalo, Gilchrist rushed for 3,056 yards.

8. Devin Singletary

Checking in at no. 11 on the Bills' all-time rushing list, Devin Singletary ended his time in Buffalo having ran for 3,151 yards. He originally came to Buffalo as a third-round pick back in 2019 after playing his college ball at the University of Florida Atlantic.

Despite never reaching the 200-carry mark as a Bill, Singletary was still a fairly productive back. His four seasons in Buffalo saw him average a strong 4.7 yards per carry. His best year in Buffalo came in Year 3, the 2021 season, when he ran for a then-career-best 870 yards and seven scores. He also caught a career-best 40 passes that season.

After four seasons with the Bills, his contract was not renewed and Singletary ended up signing with the Houston Texans to become an essential part of that surprise season led by rookie C.J. Stroud.

7. Willis McGahee

A lot of Bills fans wonder what could have been with Willis McGahee. The college star still ended up being a first-round pick by Buffalo in the 2003 NFL Draft, after a nasty knee injury in his final collegiate game. McGahee sat out his rookie season, only to come back and start his Bills career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

His third year saw him finish just shy of 1,000 yards, and now McGahee sits at no. 9 on the Bills' all-time rushing list with 3,365 yards. He was known for his burst coming out of college, and made a strong effort to return to the type of player he was at Miami, despite the catastrophic injury he endured.

Prior to the 2007 NFL Draft, the Bills traded McGahee to the Ravens, which ultimately paved the way to Buffalo selecting Marshawn Lynch in that year's draft. Who knows what would have happened if the Bills never traded McGahee, as the former Hurricane went on to earn a Pro Bowl bid the very next year in Baltimore, en route to an additional 5,000-plus rushing yards after his stint with the Bills.

6. LeSean McCoy

Back in the 2009 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles took LeSean McCoy in the second round.

After six years with the Eagles that included four 1,000-yard seasons, McCoy was traded to the Bills in a deal that saw linebacker Kiko Alonso dealt back to Philly. The veteran running back would go on to play four seasons for the Bills, the first three ending with Pro Bowls for the former Pittsburgh standout.

McCoy's best year with the Bills came in 2016 when he rushed 234 times for 1,267 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also added 50 catches for 356 yards through the air and a score. Despite only four years in Buffalo, McCoy now sits no. 6 on the all-time rushing list having accumulated 3,814 yards on 885 carries. His last year in the NFL came in 2020 when he played very sparingly for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

McCoy currently ranks 22nd all-time in the NFL in rushing yards with 11,102.

5. Travis Henry - START 200 WORDS

Before Willis McGahee and Marshawn Lynch came Travis Henry, who was a second-round pick out of Tennessee by the Bills back in the 2001 NFL Draft. Henry was one of those flash-in-the-pan types who looked like he would end up being one of the greats. In Year 2 and Year 3 with the Bills, Henry went for 1,438 yards and 1,356 yards, respectively. He also scored a combined 23 rushing touchdowns and added nearly 500 receiving yards between the two campaigns.

During his last season with the Bills, back in 2004, Henry ultimately lost his starting job to McGahee after an injury. It seemed to be only a matter of time before Henry would take a back seat, especially after watching Buffalo invest first-round draft capital in a player who would end up missing his entire rookie campaign. Buffalo was determined to get McGahee on the field, and Henry's injury was a big reason why his time, with the Bills, came to an end.

Henry would go on to play two seasons with the Tennessee Titans, which saw him revitalize his career a bit in 2006, when he went for over 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns. But then, following his lone season in Denver back in 2007, Henry's career was over, just like that.

4. Joe Cribbs

Coming out of Auburn back in the 1980 NFL Draft, Joe Cribbs was selected by the Bills in the second round with pick no. 29 overall. He burst onto the scene as a rookie, rushing for what would end up being a career-high 1,189 yards, scoring 11 touchdowns on the ground. In the passing game, the rookie caught 52 passes for 415 yards as well, proving to be as complete a back as there was.

In Year 2, Cribbs again topped 1,000 yards and earned his second-straight Pro Bowl bid. Once again, he did it through the air, too, as he topped 600 receiving yards. Cribbs would miss half of his third year due to injury, but he was on pace to set an NFL-best that year in rushing yards, as he led the league with over 90 yards per contest.

In 1983, he returned to form and went over 1,100 yards on the ground plus another 524 in the passing game. Then, 1984 saw his career take a turn for the worse. He missed the entire year because of a contract dispute, and after that, he was never the same. Cribbs played one more season with Buffalo, rushing for just 399 yards and starting five games. He went on to play for San Francisco, Indianapolis and Miami over the next three years totaled less than 1,000 yards combined between those stints.

As of now, he sits no. 4 all-time on the Bills' rushling list with 4,445 yards.

3. Fred Jackson

Fred Jackson was one of those steady types whom fans came to love dearly. Early on, his career did not begin the way he would have liked it to, but sometimes that's what happens when you play college ball at such a small program like Jackson did. The Bills' no. 3 all-time rusher played collegiate football at Coe College, a Division III program based in Cedar Rapids, IA.

Jackson went undrafted in 2003 and began his career by playing some arena football for the Sioux City Bandits between 2004-2005, followed by a stint with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe. Then, in 2006, he joined the Bills but wouldn't make his debut until the 2007 season while playing alongside Marshawn Lynch. Between Jackson and Lynch, the Bills had quite the tandem in the back field.

He would go on to play eight seasons with the Bills, enjoying fairly productive seasons, including four of which saw him go over 800 yards. His best season, statistically, came in 2009 when he rushed for a career-high 1,062 yards. But, in 2011, Jackson was on pace to shatter his career-best while rushing for over 93 yards per game in 10 contests. But, an injury kept him out the remainder of the season and Jackson wound up with 934 yards on the year.

Sitting third all-time in Bills history, Jackson totaled 5,646 yards in Buffalo.

2. O.J. Simpson

There is no more controversial player in the history of the Bills than O.J. Simpson, but here, we're focusing on his football career.

Back in the 1969 NFL Draft, Simpson was selected no. 1 overall by the Bills out of USC. He would make an immediate impact, earning a Pro Bowl nod in his rookie season. But, it was in 1972 when he really took off. From 1972-1976, Simpson made five Pro Bowls, five All Pro Teams, become league MVP in 1973 and led the league in rushing four times, which included a career-high 2,003 yards back in 1973. What's most impressive about that 2,000-yard season is that it came back when teams played a 14-game campaign.

He would also lead the NFL in rushing touchdowns twice during that stretch.

Simpson was a big play waiting to happen at any given moment. Three separate seasons, Simpson ended the year with the NFL's longest rush (a 94-yard run in 1972, an 80-yard run in 1973 and an 88-yard run in 1975.

As the Bills' no. 2 all-time rusher, Simpson ended his Buffalo career with 10,183 rushing yards and ultimately found himself in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

1. Thurman Thomas - 250 WORDS

Thurman Thomas came into the NFL as a second-round pick back in the 1988 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma State, a college which also produced the great Barry Sanders. Thomas would quickly become the Bills' workhorse and, after failing to reach the1,00-yard mark as a rookie, he went on to top that number in eight straight seasons.

The 1989 season saw Thomas begin a stretch of five straight Pro Bowl selections, while also being named an All Pro in 1990 and 1991. Four of those seasons, Thomas also topped 500 receiving yards, which is an aspect of his game that made him one of the most well-rounded and consistent running backs of his time.

In 1991, Thomas would go on to be named the NFL's Most Valuable Player as well as the Offensive Player of the Year, something that rarely happens anymore. That year, he rushed for 1,407 yards and led the league with 4.9 yards per carry while also catching 62 passes for 631 yards and five scores through the air.

Fun fact: Thomas' career-high for rushing yards in a game came against the division rival Jets back in 1990 when he went for a whopping 214 yards. Speaking of a division rival, Thomas spent all but one year of his pro career with the Bills. In his final season back in 2000, he played for the Miami Dolphins. Although, Thomas rarely saw any action, carrying it 28 times for 136 yards and zero scores.

After 12 seasons in Buffalo and one in Miami, Thomas called it a career. He will forever be remembered in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and hold a record that is going to be extremely difficult to break in Buffalo: 11,938 career rushing yards.