The Buffalo Bills have played host to plenty of legendary players in the history of their franchise, but the quarterback position has been a very unusual area for them. There have been a handful of stars, one of which made the Hall of Fame, but the rest of the results have been difficult.
Buffalo's early years were fraught with horrendous quarterback play, as any season in which Bills quarterbacks had more touchdown passes than interceptions was considered a smashing success. Josh Allen brought an end to a decade of largely poor play.
The 10 best Bills quarterbacks in franchise history includes players who have performed at an MVP level, underrated game managers who took the team to the postseason, and veterans who managed to put up some solid seasons in Buffalo.
Criteria for selection
These quarterbacks were chosen based on a combination of:
- Statistical Achievements
- Impact on Success
- Longevity
- Memorable Moments
The 10 best quarterbacks in the history of the Buffalo Bills
10. Rob Johnson
Picking between a quarterback named "Robo-Sack" and a quarterback named "Captain Checkdown" in Trent Edwards was tough, but Johnson won out. After literally one good game as a backup with the Jaguars, Buffalo paid him an eye-watering sum of money to be their quarterback of the future.
Any moments of success he had were immediately canceled out by Johnson's inevitable injury. Doug Flutie eventually overtook him, and Johnson became a cautionary tale for GMs across the league. Not every backup who shows potential in limited action can become a starter, as Johnson proved.
9. JP Losman
Losman is one of many highly-touted draft picks who were unable to become a franchise quarterback. The Tulane draftee could throw a ball through a brick wall, but he struggled to hit a brick wall when he was in the pocket. His happy feet in the pocket were the biggest issue that led to his downfall.
Losman went 10-23 in five seasons as a starter in Buffalo. While Dick Jauron's offense was regarded as quite limiting for a quarterback, Losman was given some quality receivers like Eric Moulds and Lee Evans to throw to. Losman didn't find success after leaving Buffalo, though he is coaching.
8. Ryan Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick is everyone's favorite journeyman, as more than a half-dozen teams have taken a ride on the Harvard man's roller coaster. Fitzpatrick's longest sustained period of success and stability came with Buffalo, as this is where he showed everyone that he can be a high-end quarterback in the NFL.
Fitzpatrick would throw for 3,000 yards and 23 touchdown passes in three consecutive seasons. The downside, as is so often the case with Fitzpatrick, was the turnovers. He was picked off 64 times in four seasons with the Bills and never recorded a winning season as the starter.
7. Drew Bledsoe
Bledsoe may be the best quarterback in NFL history without a shot of making it to the Hall of Fame. His cannon of an arm served him well in Buffalo.
Cast off to the Bills after the Patriots decided to move on with this Tom Brady fellow, Buffalo got three largely quality seasons out of him. A Pro Bowl player in 2002 and owner of a 23-25 record, Bledsoe threw for over 10,000 yards and 55 touchdowns during his time with the Bills.
The Bills just missed out on getting Bledsoe in his prime, but he did provide them with a level of competency at the quarterback position that Buffalo had not seen since the days of Jim Kelly.
6. Tyrod Taylor
Taylor becoming the starter in Buffalo was seen as a shock to many, as the former sixth-round pick of the Ravens was never thought of as a starting quarterback. Beating out Matt Cassel for the starting job, Taylor embarked upon a perpetually underrated time as Bills quarterback.
Taylor, who was infamously taken out of the lineup for Nathan Peterman in one of the dumbest moves in recent Bills history, tossed 51 touchdowns against just 16 interceptions while being an effective playmaker on the move.
Taylor never turned the ball over, and that mindset helped him go 22-20 in his starts despite having one of the worst receiving corps in the league at that time.
5. Doug Flutie
The 5-10, 180-pound college football legend returned to the NFL in his late 30s after a great career in Canada. Flutie not only became a Pro Bowl quarterback, but he was one of the marquee attractions in the league after somehow playing well enough to get the Bills to the playoffs.
Flutie was 21-9 as a starter in Buffalo, throwing 47 touchdowns and captivating the nation. However, when Ralph Wilson ordered Wade Phillips to start Rob Johnson in the postseason, the Flutie era came to an unceremonious end. When he was cooking, Flutie had the Bills' offense humming.
4. Jack Kemp
Kemp might be the least-heralded seven-time Pro Bowler (well, AFL All-Star) in NFL history. Kemp, who was acquired from the Chargers right before their John Hadl breakout, Kemp was 1965 AFL Player of the Year and the starting quarterback for the AFL Champion Bills under Lou Saban.
Kemp, who later became a politician and held a major role in the first Bush administration, threw for over 15,000 yards in a conservative offense, tossing 77 touchdowns and winning 43 games as the starter in Buffalo. Perhaps San Diego regrets letting Kemp go.
3. Joe Ferguson
Ferguson started his career in 1973 and played into the 1990s thanks to incredible toughness. His best years, 12 of them in fact, came with the Bills. Outside of Kemp, Buffalo was a quarterback black hole prior to Ferguson, who gave them a decade of relative stability.
While OJ Simpson in the backfield was the main driving force behind that offense, Ferguson did lead the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns on separate occasions. Ferguson finished his Buffalo spell with just under 28,000 passing yards and 181 of his 196 career passing touchdowns.
2. Josh Allen
Allen is on pace to smash every Bills passing record when everything is said and done, but he currently finds himself in second place behind the expected No. 1 choice. Allen went from a raw dart throw out of Wyoming to one of the premier dual threat quarterbacks in NFL history.
Allen is slowly climbing the leaderboards for both all-time rushing yards and rushing TDs by a quarterback, All while finishing in the top five in MVP voting with regularity on the back of the strongest arm in the game. He and he alone is the reason the Bills remain championship contenders every year.
Time will tell if Allen is able to become the first Bills quarterback to ever hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
1. Jim Kelly
There will always be morons who try to devalue Kelly's career due to his relatively short NFL career for an elite quarterback and lack of a championship. Those haters can't appreciate what Kelly was in his prime, as his "K-Gun" offense was nigh unstoppable when everyone was on the same page.
Kelly was a Pro Bowler five times who narrowly missed out on Offensive Player of the Year on a handful of occasions. His 35,467 career passing yards and 237 touchdowns may eventually be broken by Allen, but No. 17 has a long way to go.
Kelly ruled the AFC for half a decade. Running into some all-time great teams in the Super Bowls shouldn't ruin his legacy.