List of Bills QBs during the Desolation

[foreboding]

I was trying to remember all the QBs who started for our team has had since Jim Kelly and before Josh Allen. The list was even longer than I thought, the number in parenthesis is the number of games started by said QB. Not far off from a QB per year since. Crazy and glad the desolation is over.

1997 Todd Collins (13) / Alex Van Pelt (3)

1998 Doug Flutie (10) / Rob Johnson (6)

1999 Doug Flutie (15) / Rob Johnson (1)

2000 Rob Johnson (11) / Doug Flutie (5)

2001 Alex Van Pelt (8) / Rob Johnson (8)

2002 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2003 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2004 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2005 J. P. Losman (8) / Kelly Holcomb (8)

2006 J. P. Losman (16)

2007 Trent Edwards (9) / J. P. Losman (7)

2008 Trent Edwards (14) / J. P. Losman (2)

2009 Ryan Fitzpatrick (8) / Trent Edwards (7) / Brian Brohm (1)

2010 Ryan Fitzpatrick (13) / Trent Edwards (2) / Brian Brohm (1)

2011 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2012 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2013 EJ Manuel (10) / Thad Lewis (5) / Jeff Tuel (1)

2014 Kyle Orton (12) / EJ Manuel (4)

2015 Tyrod Taylor (14) / EJ Manuel (2)

2016 Tyrod Taylor (15) / EJ Manuel (1)

2017 Tyrod Taylor (14) / Nathan Peterman (2)

[Bangarang]

2013 🤢 🤮

Edited August 3, 2021 by Bangarang

[foreboding]

1 minute ago, Bangarang said:

2013 🤢 🤮

Brutal, I know. I remember when I wished we had a QB as good as Aaron Brooks. My bar was low.

[RobbRiddick]

Tuel time baby! He seems longer ago than 2013.

 

There's some in there I had hopes for. JP I think would be better now with the offenses we have. He could move a bit and had a hell of a deep ball. The intermediate stuff was what screwed him.

 

EJ I never thought would amount to anything, hated the way he seemed to push his throws towards players, almost like darts. 

 

Tyrod drove me crazy with his unwillingness to pass more than five yards beyond the LOS, though he carved out quite the rep amongst the media as being the guy who doesn't turn it over.

 

Trent was good for a short while until he got knocked out and we had fun blaming his regression on the concussion for many years.

 

Drew was exciting for a season or so, then we got frustrated with his cement feet.

 

Van Pelt looks better as a pot bellied sideline stroller than he did as a QB

 

Rob Johnson's best moment was leading us to FG range with one shoe, just before the music city miracle

 

Douglas Flutie was probably the most entertaining out of that bunch. Loved watching him play

 

Fitz was fun and frustrating week to week. He did beat the Pats though.

 

All said it's a lot of crap we've had to put up with. Look at that list and you can see why Allen is so popular

Edited August 3, 2021 by RobbRiddick

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

Anyone remember Craig Nall? I think we only had him for a year after being Favre's backup. It's so refreshing that the qb carousel has stopped.

For so many years we tried to find a starting qb in another team's trash heap (this strategy did pan out with Tyrod and Fitz to some degree)

[Rc2catch]

What a list. 
Makes me even sadder thinking of how high my hopes were for Losman, edwards and I was even really hoping Thad would be something. 
 

I agree with @forebodingas well I was a big Aaron brooks fan and wished we had someone like him 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[4_kidd_4]

My favorite Jeff Tuel memory was someone handing him a mechanical pencil to sign an autograph with at a preseason game. He said “Uh. This is a pencil.”

 

Pretty much the highlight of this entire list.

[Brennan Huff]

Somebody made the comment somewhere online that said “we don’t deserve Josh Allen”. I said the ***** we don’t. Just look at this list…

[US Egg]

Flutie, Bledsoe, Fitzpatrick instilled some semblance of hope.

 

But in reality, it was more delusional than sound expectations.

 

Taylor was entertaining at times but clearly was not adequate.

 

The rest were simply not good enough to be starting NFL QB's.

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by I am the egg man

[17islongenough]

I'm so happy that I was able to attend Jeff Tuels only career start

[Rc2catch]

2 minutes ago, Brennan Huff said:

Somebody made the comment somewhere online that said “we don’t deserve Josh Allen”. I said the ***** we don’t. Just look at this list…

There is not many fan bases that could go through what we have. We were irrelevant so long when I told people here in Knoxville years ago  I was a Buffalo Bills fan they thought it was a college team. I’d correct them about the Bulls and they’d say never heard of them. They know who we are now though. 

[Victory Formation]

Hey man, I got enough depressing ***** going on in my life right now. Spare me your crummy list. 😁

[BuffaloBill]

22 minutes ago, Rc2catch said:

What a list. 
Makes me even sadder thinking of how high my hopes were for Losman, edwards and I was even really hoping Thad would be something. 
 

I agree with @forebodingas well I was a big Aaron brooks fan and wished we had someone like him 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

 

 

Yeah, I really thought Edwards was going to be “the one.” He was never the same after that brutal hit in the Cards game.

[Damian]

Did Billy Joe Hobert ever play?

[foreboding]

3 minutes ago, Damian said:

Did Billy Joe Hobert ever play?

I wondered the same, and no, I do not think he did.

5 minutes ago, BuffaloBill said:

 

 

Yeah, I really thought Edwards was going to be “the one.” He was never the same after that brutal hit in the Cards game.

Me too, he started well and seemed to have poised and accuracy. One hit did him in it seems.

[SoCal Deek]

Thanks for the list. When you see it laid out that way there was actually more consistency than I remember. Bledsoe, Fitz, Tyrod and Losman all had longer runs at the starting job than most would think.  Were they Tom Brady? No....but who is? The problem the Bills had was that they never totally tanked. So year after year there was a glimmer of hope and a middle of the pack finish that had them drafting likewise, in the middle of the First Round.  Sigh! 

[dollars 2 donuts]

You know for all the BS back and forth during the period of "Flute-Johnson?", Doug was 21-9 as the starter for this team.

 

Man, you just can't shake a stick at that, really.

 

I know he has talked more recently about the Bills, but I just wish that relationship, between him and the franchise, was a little bit closer.

 

I know he is a Boston guy, and I know what he did in the CFL, but his greatest NFL success was with us.  

Edited August 3, 2021 by dollars 2 donuts

[P Riv]

1 hour ago, foreboding said:

I was trying to remember all the QBs who started for our team has had since Jim Kelly and before Josh Allen. The list was even longer than I thought, the number in parenthesis is the number of games started by said QB. Not far off from a QB per year since. Crazy and glad the desolation is over.

1997 Todd Collins (13) / Alex Van Pelt (3)

1998 Doug Flutie (10) / Rob Johnson (6)

1999 Doug Flutie (15) / Rob Johnson (1)

2000 Rob Johnson (11) / Doug Flutie (5)

2001 Alex Van Pelt (8) / Rob Johnson (8)

2002 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2003 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2004 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2005 J. P. Losman (8) / Kelly Holcomb (8)

2006 J. P. Losman (16)

2007 Trent Edwards (9) / J. P. Losman (7)

2008 Trent Edwards (14) / J. P. Losman (2)

2009 Ryan Fitzpatrick (8) / Trent Edwards (7) / Brian Brohm (1)

2010 Ryan Fitzpatrick (13) / Trent Edwards (2) / Brian Brohm (1)

2011 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2012 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2013 EJ Manuel (10) / Thad Lewis (5) / Jeff Tuel (1)

2014 Kyle Orton (12) / EJ Manuel (4)

2015 Tyrod Taylor (14) / EJ Manuel (2)

2016 Tyrod Taylor (15) / EJ Manuel (1)

2017 Tyrod Taylor (14) / Nathan Peterman (2)

 

As I recall the running joke during that period.... Which QB had the most home wins in Buffalo?  Tom Brady..... 🤪

[Kwai San]

40 minutes ago, Damian said:

Did Billy Joe Hobert ever play?

 

He did mop up duty once and it was discovered he never even opened the playbook.

 

OP - what a brutal read......we were glutton's for punishment for far too many years!!!  All hail JA!

[Buftex]

Nobody remembers Thad Lewis?  I was so battered by Bills football at the time, for a few weeks there, when he started, I thought "finally the Bills strike gold"!

 

[The Jokeman]

45 minutes ago, Damian said:

Did Billy Joe Hobert ever play?

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199710120nwe.htm and what soon followed:

 

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-oct-16-sp-43372-story.html

[frostbitmic]

How can it be a complete list without Gibran Hamdan ?

[TroutDog]

1 hour ago, RobbRiddick said:

Tyrod drove me crazy with his unwillingness to pass more than five yards beyond the LOS, though he carved out quite the rep amongst the media as being the guy who doesn't turn it over

This and his unwillingness to throw anywhere but the edges of the field. Ugh. Drove me absolutely bonkers. 

[BuffaloFan68]

Is my count right at 17 QBs between Kelly & Allen?  Wow.  

Go Bills!!!!!

[Motorin']

2 hours ago, foreboding said:

I was trying to remember all the QBs who started for our team has had since Jim Kelly and before Josh Allen. The list was even longer than I thought, the number in parenthesis is the number of games started by said QB. Not far off from a QB per year since. Crazy and glad the desolation is over.

1997 Todd Collins (13) / Alex Van Pelt (3)

1998 Doug Flutie (10) / Rob Johnson (6)

1999 Doug Flutie (15) / Rob Johnson (1)

2000 Rob Johnson (11) / Doug Flutie (5)

2001 Alex Van Pelt (8) / Rob Johnson (8)

2002 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2003 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2004 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2005 J. P. Losman (8) / Kelly Holcomb (8)

2006 J. P. Losman (16)

2007 Trent Edwards (9) / J. P. Losman (7)

2008 Trent Edwards (14) / J. P. Losman (2)

2009 Ryan Fitzpatrick (8) / Trent Edwards (7) / Brian Brohm (1)

2010 Ryan Fitzpatrick (13) / Trent Edwards (2) / Brian Brohm (1)

2011 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2012 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2013 EJ Manuel (10) / Thad Lewis (5) / Jeff Tuel (1)

2014 Kyle Orton (12) / EJ Manuel (4)

2015 Tyrod Taylor (14) / EJ Manuel (2)

2016 Tyrod Taylor (15) / EJ Manuel (1)

2017 Tyrod Taylor (14) / Nathan Peterman (2)

 

This is a good list to help us appreciate what we have now! I did notice that it is only a list of starters though. It definitely misses some sad moments in Bills history.

 

1997 Billy Joe Hobert (2)

2001 Travis Brown (1)

2003 Travis Brown (3)

2004 Shane Matthews (3)

2010 Levi Brown (1)

2011 Tyler Thigpen (3)

2012 Tyler Thigpen (4)

2015 Matt Cassel - Started (1)

2016 Cardale Jones (1)

 

 

 

 

 

[machine gun kelly]

1 hour ago, dollars 2 donuts said:

You know for all the BS back and forth during the period of "Flute-Johnson?", Doug was 21-9 as the starter for this team.

 

Man, you just can't shake a stick at that, really.

 

I know he has talked more recently about the Bills, but I just wish that relationship, between him and the franchise, wa a little bit closer.

 

I know he is a Boston guy, and I know what he did in the CFL, but his greatest NFL success was with us.  

Donuts, I’m more of a Flutie guy than most.  He gave us some glimmer of hope when it was clear Collins and Van Pelt weren’t going to do it.  He also came in when RJ was 0-3 and won us a bunch of games.

 

I know he was only going to take us so far, but still reminisce that if he was in against TN, if we could’ve beaten them.  That defense was #1, and they made it to the SB.

 

Im not sure the intentions of again reminiscing the drought years.  Sometimes I question intentions here. I’ll take foreboding at his word he just maybe wants us to remember how special it is to have Allen.  Glass half full.

[Motorin']

35 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

How can it be a complete list without Gibran Hamdan ?

 

Never took a snap in a regular season game for the Bills. Just looked up his stats, he attempted 2 passes in the NFL for WASH. He was 1 of 2 for 7 yards in his NFL career. 

[First Round Bust]

2 hours ago, foreboding said:

I was trying to remember all the QBs who started for our team has had since Jim Kelly and before Josh Allen. The list was even longer than I thought, the number in parenthesis is the number of games started by said QB. Not far off from a QB per year since. Crazy and glad the desolation is over.

1997 Todd Collins (13) / Alex Van Pelt (3)

1998 Doug Flutie (10) / Rob Johnson (6)

1999 Doug Flutie (15) / Rob Johnson (1)

2000 Rob Johnson (11) / Doug Flutie (5)

2001 Alex Van Pelt (8) / Rob Johnson (8)

2002 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2003 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2004 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2005 J. P. Losman (8) / Kelly Holcomb (8)

2006 J. P. Losman (16)

2007 Trent Edwards (9) / J. P. Losman (7)

2008 Trent Edwards (14) / J. P. Losman (2)

2009 Ryan Fitzpatrick (8) / Trent Edwards (7) / Brian Brohm (1)

2010 Ryan Fitzpatrick (13) / Trent Edwards (2) / Brian Brohm (1)

2011 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2012 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2013 EJ Manuel (10) / Thad Lewis (5) / Jeff Tuel (1)

2014 Kyle Orton (12) / EJ Manuel (4)

2015 Tyrod Taylor (14) / EJ Manuel (2)

2016 Tyrod Taylor (15) / EJ Manuel (1)

2017 Tyrod Taylor (14) / Nathan Peterman (2)

thanks for time and effort for this review, usually rock bottom happens once, based on the above it happened every 8 years in 97, 05 and 13

[Craig Oi]

Looking at this list makes me appreciate Joe Ferguson even more , when you look back on it he was a very steady QB for us for a long time, then we had the pre misery of Dufek, Ferrigamo, & Mathison before Kelly and the long search until Allen. 

[Homey D. Clown]

2 minutes ago, Craig Oi said:

Looking at this list makes me appreciate Joe Ferguson even more , when you look back on it he was a very steady QB for us for a long time, then we had the pre misery of Dufek, Ferrigamo, & Mathison before Kelly and the long search until Allen. 

 

Joe Dufek and Bruce Mathison!   ahhh  the crappy old days.....

[machine gun kelly]

Just now, Craig Oi said:

Looking at this list makes me appreciate Joe Ferguson even more , when you look back on it he was a very steady QB for us for a long time, then we had the pre misery of Dufek, Ferrigamo, & Mathison before Kelly and the long search until Allen. 

Ferry was my first guy.  I didn’t have the pleasure of Kemp.  Not as Old as Shaw and Chandman. 😇 Just kidding guys.  You know I luv both of you guys.

 

Its funny I think Fergs was like a 56% guy and we loved him when I was a little boy.  I only remember his later years, just he was a tough son of a gun.

[Bangarang]

1 hour ago, Buftex said:

Nobody remembers Thad Lewis?  I was so battered by Bills football at the time, for a few weeks there, when he started, I thought "finally the Bills strike gold"!

 

Thad was not good but was still an immediate upgrade over EJ which should tell you all you needed to know about our QB room at the time. 

[Kwai San]

26 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

Thad was not good but was still an immediate upgrade over EJ which should tell you all you needed to know about our QB room at the time. 

 

THAT must have been one uninspiring room to be in......

[Buftex]

31 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

Thad was not good but was still an immediate upgrade over EJ which should tell you all you needed to know about our QB room at the time. 

As I recall, he beat Miami twice that season, which was huge for me, at that time.  Expectations were perpetually low, so you were looking for just anything to feel positive about.  For some reason, I thought he would have a solid career as a back-up/spot starter in the league after that...but he just kind of disappeared... I think he may started on game for the Browns, after Buffalo, but nothing after that.  He was a bit of a one trick pony...but effective.

[ganesh]

3 hours ago, foreboding said:

I was trying to remember all the QBs who started for our team has had since Jim Kelly and before Josh Allen. The list was even longer than I thought, the number in parenthesis is the number of games started by said QB. Not far off from a QB per year since. Crazy and glad the desolation is over.

1997 Todd Collins (13) / Alex Van Pelt (3)

1998 Doug Flutie (10) / Rob Johnson (6)

1999 Doug Flutie (15) / Rob Johnson (1)

2000 Rob Johnson (11) / Doug Flutie (5)

2001 Alex Van Pelt (8) / Rob Johnson (8)

2002 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2003 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2004 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2005 J. P. Losman (8) / Kelly Holcomb (8)

2006 J. P. Losman (16)

2007 Trent Edwards (9) / J. P. Losman (7)

2008 Trent Edwards (14) / J. P. Losman (2)

2009 Ryan Fitzpatrick (8) / Trent Edwards (7) / Brian Brohm (1)

2010 Ryan Fitzpatrick (13) / Trent Edwards (2) / Brian Brohm (1)

2011 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2012 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2013 EJ Manuel (10) / Thad Lewis (5) / Jeff Tuel (1)

2014 Kyle Orton (12) / EJ Manuel (4)

2015 Tyrod Taylor (14) / EJ Manuel (2)

2016 Tyrod Taylor (15) / EJ Manuel (1)

2017 Tyrod Taylor (14) / Nathan Peterman (2)

Espn showed this in the 2018 draft when Josh was drafted.  
 

there were 17QBs who started between Kelly and Josh.  
 

the number of drought years was 17 

 

josh Allen wears the # 17

 

coincidence or destiny ??  

[Greg S]

2 hours ago, I am the egg man said:

Flutie, Bledsoe, Fitzpatrick instilled some semblance of hope.

 

But in reality, it was more delusional than sound expectations.

 

Taylor was entertaining at times but clearly was not adequate.

 

The rest were simply not good enough to be starting NFL QB's.

 

 

Speaking of Flutie I always wondered if the Bills would have beaten the Titans in that playoff game if he starts over Johnson. 

[BillsfaninSB]

3 minutes ago, ganesh said:

Espn showed this in the 2018 draft when Josh was drafted.  
 

there were 17QBs who started between Kelly and Josh.  
 

the number of drought years was 17 

 

josh Allen wears the # 17

 

coincidence or destiny ??  

17 wins this season including the SB would be kind of cool. 

[PromoTheRobot]

3 hours ago, foreboding said:

I was trying to remember all the QBs who started for our team has had since Jim Kelly and before Josh Allen. The list was even longer than I thought, the number in parenthesis is the number of games started by said QB. Not far off from a QB per year since. Crazy and glad the desolation is over.

1997 Todd Collins (13) / Alex Van Pelt (3)

1998 Doug Flutie (10) / Rob Johnson (6)

1999 Doug Flutie (15) / Rob Johnson (1)

2000 Rob Johnson (11) / Doug Flutie (5)

2001 Alex Van Pelt (8) / Rob Johnson (8)

2002 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2003 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2004 Drew Bledsoe (16)

2005 J. P. Losman (8) / Kelly Holcomb (8)

2006 J. P. Losman (16)

2007 Trent Edwards (9) / J. P. Losman (7)

2008 Trent Edwards (14) / J. P. Losman (2)

2009 Ryan Fitzpatrick (8) / Trent Edwards (7) / Brian Brohm (1)

2010 Ryan Fitzpatrick (13) / Trent Edwards (2) / Brian Brohm (1)

2011 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2012 Ryan Fitzpatrick (16)

2013 EJ Manuel (10) / Thad Lewis (5) / Jeff Tuel (1)

2014 Kyle Orton (12) / EJ Manuel (4)

2015 Tyrod Taylor (14) / EJ Manuel (2)

2016 Tyrod Taylor (15) / EJ Manuel (1)

2017 Tyrod Taylor (14) / Nathan Peterman (2)

 

"Of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth."

-- Hebrews 11:38

[RobbRiddick]

2 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

The problem the Bills had was that they never totally tanked. 

This is it. Sure, tanking is no sure fix, but we were always 6-10, 7-9, that sort of thing. 

 

For me the worst part of the drought was when Jauron was coach. That guy was 7-9 through and through. I remember the team getting beaten up by the pats, basically humiliated and the first thing he did in his press conference was to congratulate them and then talk about how awesome they were. I think I might have thrown something at the TV. Just a loser mentality

[PromoTheRobot]

5 minutes ago, RobbRiddick said:

This is it. Sure, tanking is no sure fix, but we were always 6-10, 7-9, that sort of thing. 

 

For me the worst part of the drought was when Jauron was coach. That guy was 7-9 through and through. I remember the team getting beaten up by the pats, basically humiliated and the first thing he did in his press conference was to congratulate them and then talk about how awesome they were. I think I might have thrown something at the TV. Just a loser mentality

 

Too many quick-fixes and shortcuts. Combined with less-than-stellar coaching and front offices.