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Rank The Buffalo Bills Starting QB’s Since Jim Kelly


JohnNord

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On 10/16/2021 at 1:00 PM, JohnNord said:

Something fun going around Twitter.  Based on the list below rank the Bills starting QB’s since Jim Kelly retired.  After Josh it’s a crap shoot and then the next five it

gets really interesting.  Here’s mine:

 

Josh Allen
Drew Bledsoe

Kyle Orton

Doug Flutie
Tyrod Taylor
Ryan Fitzpatrick

Rob Johnson

Kelly Holcomb

EJ Manuel

Trent Edwards

J.P. Losman

Todd Collins

Matt Barkley
Alex Van Pelt
Matt Cassel

Derek Anderson

Thad Lewis
Jeff Tuel
Nathan Peterman
Brian Brohm
 



 

What kind of bs is this. JOHNSON is better than Flutie. Always was, always will be.....dems fighting words...

Flutie was way too flakey.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

Why do people like Flutue

1. Cute little guy

2. He had a band

3. He had a cereal

4. He had 4 very good games in a row.

5. He played in Canadian football league.

6. In an interview he could express himself without saying "Dude"

7. Could be carried off the field by only 1 medic 

8. When he gave away his game spikes to kids they were so small the 6 year old could wear them

 

Now....don't take this to seriously......you flutie flakes...😉😉😉😉😉😉

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11 hours ago, Billznut said:

Allen

Flutie

Bledsoe

Taylor

Fitz/Orton 

 

Lumping Fitz in with 3rd and puss is a pretty big insult to Fitzy.

3 hours ago, billsfan1959 said:

 

Orton should automatically be disqualified from any mention just for this play alone...

 

 

 

This is why Orton will forever be 3rd and puss to me.

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I created a QB index awhile ago that looked at passing and rushing stats. I also included wins, playoff appearances, championships, etc. These are how the post Kelly era QB's rank in that index:

 

Josh Allen

Tyrod Taylor

Doug Flutie

Kyle Orton

Drew Bledsoe

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Kelly Holcomb

Trent Edwards

Rob Johnson

Thad Lewis

Todd Collins

JP Losman

EJ Manuel

Matt Barkley

Alex Van Pelt

Nathan Peterman

Jeff Tuel

Derek Anderson

Brian Brohm

1 hour ago, BillsFanSD said:

1.  Allen

2a.Bledsoe

2b.Flutie

4.  Fitz

 

I refuse to consider any of the others.

What did Fitz do besides lose a ton of games? Yeah, he is a good guy. He is smart and funny. But he was not a good QB for the Bills. He was exciting because he threw the ball all over the place, but it was almost as likely to go to a defender as it was to a receiver. Fitz today is a much better QB than he was with the Bills.

 

Tyrod Taylor was a better Bills QB than three of the four QB's you listed, in my opinion.

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30 minutes ago, MJS said:

I created a QB index awhile ago that looked at passing and rushing stats. I also included wins, playoff appearances, championships, etc. These are how the post Kelly era QB's rank in that index:

 

Josh Allen

Tyrod Taylor

Doug Flutie

Kyle Orton

Drew Bledsoe

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Kelly Holcomb

Trent Edwards

Rob Johnson

Thad Lewis

Todd Collins

JP Losman

EJ Manuel

Matt Barkley

Alex Van Pelt

Nathan Peterman

Jeff Tuel

Derek Anderson

Brian Brohm

What did Fitz do besides lose a ton of games? Yeah, he is a good guy. He is smart and funny. But he was not a good QB for the Bills. He was exciting because he threw the ball all over the place, but it was almost as likely to go to a defender as it was to a receiver. Fitz today is a much better QB than he was with the Bills.

 

Tyrod Taylor was a better Bills QB than three of the four QB's you listed, in my opinion.

I think Fitz has played on much better team since he left the bills

 

And I think he played on crappy offenses here and made them actually decent

 

Fitz was throwing to undrafted Donald Jones, undrafted David Nelson, undrafted Scott Chandler, 

 

And still moved the ball and scored points... I don't think he became any better when he went to the Jets or anywhere else

 

Just had better talent around him

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4 hours ago, krf139 said:

People seem to forget how Flutie got us to the playoffs TWICE.  I didn’t realize Wade Phillips was a poster on this board 

 

I remember the DEF carrying this team to two playoff appearances while Flutie was starting.

 

Wins are a TEAM stat. Keep in mind guys like Vince Young and Tim Tebow won more games than they lost as starting QB. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Buffalo716 said:

I think Fitz has played on much better team since he left the bills

 

And I think he played on crappy offenses here and made them actually decent

 

Fitz was throwing to undrafted Donald Jones, undrafted David Nelson, undrafted Scott Chandler, 

 

And still moved the ball and scored points... I don't think he became any better when he went to the Jets or anywhere else

 

Just had better talent around him

He threw a ton of interceptions. That's on him. He lost a ton of games. That's partly on him.

 

And I think if you were to ask him if he has been playing better in recent years than he did in Buffalo, he would say yes. He has made comments recently that he is playing the best football of his career.

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11 minutes ago, MJS said:

He threw a ton of interceptions. That's on him. He lost a ton of games. That's partly on him.

 

And I think if you were to ask him if he has been playing better in recent years than he did in Buffalo, he would say yes. He has made comments recently that he is playing the best football of his career.

He did thrown alot of picks but he wasn't surrounded by Great talent here  

 

He definitely elevated the WRs around him... He was the only QB who could get Stevie the ball .. made Scott Chandler viable

 

He definitely was not the reason for being bad... Nobody is saying he was Pro bowl quality here 

 

 

Edited by Buffalo716
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Allen

Flutie

Taylor

Bledsoe and Orton

the rest

1 hour ago, MJS said:

He threw a ton of interceptions. That's on him. He lost a ton of games. That's partly on him.

 

And I think if you were to ask him if he has been playing better in recent years than he did in Buffalo, he would say yes. He has made comments recently that he is playing the best football of his career.

Fitz is a better player now, and the signs were there when he was in Buffalo. But he was bad overall in Buffalo. His play in the final 10 games in 2011 after the 5-1 start was third-stringer level.

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Tier by himself

 

1)  Josh Allen

 

Quality starters

 

2)     Doug Flutie

3)    Drew Bledsoe

 

Stop gap options

 

4)     Ryan Fitzpatrick

5)     Tyrod Taylor

6)     Kyle Orton

 

Failed draft picks

 

7)     Rob Johnson

8      Todd Collins 

9)    Trent Edwards

10)     EJ Manuel

11)  JP Losman

 

Journeyman backups

 

12)  Kelly Holcomb

13)  Matt Barkley

14)  Derek Anderson

15)  Alex Van Pelt

16)  Thad Lewis

 

 

No business Starting-Tough call between Tuel and Peterman as the worst.

 

17)  Brian Brohm

18)  Jeff Tuel

19)  Nathan Peterman

 

 

Edited by dgrochester55
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10 hours ago, Niagara Bill said:

What kind of bs is this. JOHNSON is better than Flutie. Always was, always will be.....dems fighting words...

Flutie was way too flakey.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

Why do people like Flutue

1. Cute little guy

2. He had a band

3. He had a cereal

4. He had 4 very good games in a row.

5. He played in Canadian football league.

6. In an interview he could express himself without saying "Dude"

7. Could be carried off the field by only 1 medic 

8. When he gave away his game spikes to kids they were so small the 6 year old could wear them

 

Now....don't take this to seriously......you flutie flakes...😉😉😉😉😉😉

He won more that Robosack. Bandana Rob was a pu$$%.

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2 hours ago, dgrochester55 said:

Tier by himself

 

1)  Josh Allen

 

Quality starters

 

2)     Doug Flutie

3)    Drew Bledsoe

 

Stop gap options

 

4)     Ryan Fitzpatrick

5)     Tyrod Taylor

6)     Kyle Orton

 

Failed draft picks

 

7)     Rob Johnson

8      Todd Collins 

9)    Trent Edwards

10)     EJ Manuel

11)  JP Losman

 

Journeyman backups

 

12)  Kelly Holcomb

13)  Matt Barkley

14)  Derek Anderson

15)  Alex Van Pelt

16)  Thad Lewis

 

 

No business Starting-Tough call between Tuel and Peterman as the worst.

 

17)  Brian Brohm

18)  Jeff Tuel

19)  Nathan Peterman

 

 

Seeing our failed draft picks written down for the first time is a different kind of pain. And to be a kid bills fan excited about every one of them. Alot of trauma.

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2 hours ago, dgrochester55 said:

Tier by himself

 

1)  Josh Allen

 

Quality starters

 

2)     Doug Flutie

3)    Drew Bledsoe

 

Stop gap options

 

4)     Ryan Fitzpatrick

5)     Tyrod Taylor

6)     Kyle Orton

 

Failed draft picks

 

7)     Rob Johnson

8      Todd Collins 

9)    Trent Edwards

10)     EJ Manuel

11)  JP Losman

 

Journeyman backups

 

12)  Kelly Holcomb

13)  Matt Barkley

14)  Derek Anderson

15)  Alex Van Pelt

16)  Thad Lewis

 

 

No business Starting-Tough call between Tuel and Peterman as the worst.

 

17)  Brian Brohm

18)  Jeff Tuel

19)  Nathan Peterman

 

Rob Johnson wasn't a draft pick for the Bills.

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They were all RANK until we got to Josh ;)

On 10/16/2021 at 3:30 PM, mushypeaches said:

I don't care what anybody says - watching the gutless wonder, Captain Checkdown, Trent Edwards was a soul-sucking experience.

 

He may not have the worst record of the bunch, but he was truly the freaking worst

 

Some guys just have a higher level of self preservation ;)

 

Just hope you never have to share a foxhole with them ;) 

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On 10/16/2021 at 12:00 PM, JohnNord said:

Something fun going around Twitter.  Based on the list below rank the Bills starting QB’s since Jim Kelly retired.  After Josh it’s a crap shoot and then the next five it

gets really interesting.  Here’s mine:

 

Josh Allen
Drew Bledsoe

Kyle Orton

Doug Flutie
Tyrod Taylor
Ryan Fitzpatrick

Rob Johnson

Kelly Holcomb

EJ Manuel

Trent Edwards

J.P. Losman

Todd Collins

Matt Barkley
Alex Van Pelt
Matt Cassel

Derek Anderson

Thad Lewis
Jeff Tuel
Nathan Peterman
Brian Brohm
 

 



 

 

I don't drink.  But after reading this list, I poured myself a big glass of bourbon.

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I think EJ gets a bad rap for being over drafted. If he had been drafted in the 3rd round as a developmental Qb like he was graded and then thrust into the starting job as a rookie due to injuries to the real starting QB we would have thought he did pretty good. 

 

EJ has most of the Bills Franchise records for rookie QBs passing stats and he played 2 fewer games than Josh in their respective rookie seasons. 

 

If EJ had been drafted and developed by McDermott and Daboll his career could have turned out very differently. Instead, Nix reached and took him 2 rounds early in the 1st and EJ got thrown to the wolves with little support from the franchise with a head coaching change 2 years in. Marrone -> Rex.   

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Josh Allen

Ryan Fitzpatrick
Drew Bledsoe

Tyrod Taylor

Doug Flutie

Kyle Orton

J.P. Losman

Rob Johnson

Trent Edwards

EJ Manuel

Kelly Holcomb

Todd Collins

Derek Anderson

Matt Barkley
Alex Van Pelt
Matt Cassel

Thad Lewis
Jeff Tuel
Nathan Peterman
Brian Brohm

Edited by DasNootz
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On 10/16/2021 at 1:48 PM, BuffaloBillies said:

Top Tier (star):

Josh Allen

 

Middle Tier (Serviceable):

Doug Flutie

Drew Bledsoe

Kyle Orton

Tyrod Taylor
Ryan Fitzpatrick

 

Bottom Tier (Mostly Bums - this list makes me cry a little):

Rob Johnson

Kelly Holcomb

EJ Manuel

Trent Edwards

J.P. Losman

Todd Collins

Matt Barkley
Alex Van Pelt
Matt Cassel

Derek Anderson

Thad Lewis
Jeff Tuel
Nathan Peterman
Brian Brohm

I like the way you grouped them in tiers.  And, agree with your placement of QBs in the tiers.  Some juggling in the tiers, but, I like it.  Most of the juggling in the tiers is the 3rd tier.

 

I would move Peterman down to last.

 

I would move up...

 

Derek Anderson, Alex Van Pelt, JP Losman.

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2 hours ago, BFLO said:

I think EJ gets a bad rap for being over drafted. If he had been drafted in the 3rd round as a developmental Qb like he was graded and then thrust into the starting job as a rookie due to injuries to the real starting QB we would have thought he did pretty good. 

 

EJ has most of the Bills Franchise records for rookie QBs passing stats and he played 2 fewer games than Josh in their respective rookie seasons. 

 

If EJ had been drafted and developed by McDermott and Daboll his career could have turned out very differently. Instead, Nix reached and took him 2 rounds early in the 1st and EJ got thrown to the wolves with little support from the franchise with a head coaching change 2 years in. Marrone -> Rex.   

He was too inconsistent a passer.  Back to his college days.  The Qb before him and after him had more success at FSU.  He was super athletic but not a natural thrower.  He was similar to Bortles in that way.   

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In terms of what they accomplished while they were here.  Bledsoe had some nice throwing stats while he was here, but 140 sacks in three seasons was atrocious to watch.    Love Fitz but he got too much time for what he was able to put on the field.    With the crap the Bills put on the field during the drought, feel like Holcomb and Thad Lewis deserved more of a shot at it.    Anybody Barkley and below set Quarterbacking into the past 50 years during their time here. 

 

 

Josh Allen

Doug Flutie

Tyrod Taylor

Kyle Orton
Drew Bledsoe

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Rob Johnson

EJ Manuel

Thad Lewis

Kelly Holcomb

Matt Barkley

Trent Edwards

J.P. Losman

Todd Collins

Jeff Tuel

Derek Anderson

Alex Van Pelt

Nathan Peterman
Brian Brohm

Matt Cassel

 



 

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On 10/16/2021 at 12:08 PM, RobbRiddick said:

 

I don't disagree too much with your list, but I'd put Flutie above Bledsoe and Losman above Manuel.

 

Flutie got us to the playoffs a couple of times and if he'd played in the music city miracle game I think we would have won.

 

Losman gets a lot of abuse, and most of it is warranted, but I've always had a soft spot for him. His deep passes were something else, just the rest of his game that sucked. EJ on the other hand was just a nothing QB to me. Never did anything exciting and never did anything particularly well, at least from my memory.

 

Tyrod probably deserves to be higher simply because he helped end the drought, which I'll always be grateful for.

The Bills lost that wildcard playoff game to the Titans after the 1999 season on the Music City Miracle because the Bills didn’t cover the kick. Steve Christie sent a midrange kick instead of kicking the ball deep. Lorenzo Neal fielded the kick and handed the ball to Frank Wycheck who took ten Bills with him. That caused the Bills kickoff coverage to break down. Frank Wycheck then lateraled to Kevin Dyson who scored the game winning touchdown on a play known as Home Run Throwback. The call was upheld after review and the Titans won 22-16.

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1. Josh Allen
2. Doug Flutie

3. Drew Bledsoe

4. Kyle Orton

5. Tyrod Taylor

6. Ryan Fitzpatrick

 

The rest don't even register. Honorable mention to Barkley for that Jets blowout after coming off the streets & giving us an exciting game in the midst of a disaster season.

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21 minutes ago, dpberr said:

Honest question - why do some of you rank Kyle Orton highly?  I personally wouldn't, but I'm interested in hearing a different viewpoint.

1. He went to QB U.

2. Regardless of the play where he slid early, he looked the part…. and that was only 1 play. You’ve got people excusing 2.5 years of Bledsoe disaster for the 1st 8 games of 2002.

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34 minutes ago, dpberr said:

Honest question - why do some of you rank Kyle Orton highly?  I personally wouldn't, but I'm interested in hearing a different viewpoint.

 

12 games, 64.2% comp pct, 3,018 yds (in 12 games), 18 TD/10 INT. Those are respectable, not great, numbers in 2014. The team finished 9-7, the first winning record in 10 years.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Orton#Buffalo_Bills_records

 

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6 hours ago, BFLO said:

I think EJ gets a bad rap for being over drafted. If he had been drafted in the 3rd round as a developmental Qb like he was graded and then thrust into the starting job as a rookie due to injuries to the real starting QB we would have thought he did pretty good. 

 

EJ has most of the Bills Franchise records for rookie QBs passing stats and he played 2 fewer games than Josh in their respective rookie seasons. 

 

If EJ had been drafted and developed by McDermott and Daboll his career could have turned out very differently. Instead, Nix reached and took him 2 rounds early in the 1st and EJ got thrown to the wolves with little support from the franchise with a head coaching change 2 years in. Marrone -> Rex.   


I don’t buy that McDermott and Daboll could’ve fixed EJ.  I think they could’ve put him in a better position to succeed - where they didn’t need to rely on him to win games - but at the end of the day EJ couldn’t read defenses.  He also had some struggled with self-confidence which is not ideal for a “franchise” QB.  
 

I agree that he never should’ve been a 1st round QB, but he was, and you can’t grade on a curve.  Ultimately he could’ve been a decent QB - there’s no way that he should’ve been a team’s savior.  

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31 minutes ago, HalftimeAdjustment said:

 

12 games, 64.2% comp pct, 3,018 yds (in 12 games), 18 TD/10 INT. Those are respectable, not great, numbers in 2014. The team finished 9-7, the first winning record in 10 years.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Orton#Buffalo_Bills_records

 

Keep in mind that EJ started the first 4 games of 2014.  Orton was 7-5 and really should’ve been 8-4, had the defense have been able to handle a 2-12 football team.  
 

He could push the ball downfield and made less mistakes than Fitzpatrick.  No doubt the bar was set low, but Orton was probably the best QB since Drew Bledsoe

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3 hours ago, tylerbillsfan33 said:

The Bills lost that wildcard playoff game to the Titans after the 1999 season on the Music City Miracle because the Bills didn’t cover the kick. Steve Christie sent a midrange kick instead of kicking the ball deep. Lorenzo Neal fielded the kick and handed the ball to Frank Wycheck who took ten Bills with him. That caused the Bills kickoff coverage to break down. Frank Wycheck then lateraled to Kevin Dyson who scored the game winning touchdown on a play known as Home Run Throwback. The call was upheld after review and the Titans won 22-16.

 

I know exactly what happened, I watched it happen. I mean if Flutie had started I don't believe it ever would have come down to that kick. We had a great D that year and I think Flutie would have helped generate more than 16 points.

 

I give Johnson credit for leading that final drive, even losing his shoe in the process, but he never inspired the offense around him like Flutie did

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My list is pretty much the same as most posted, but my "could've been a contender" pick is Losman. 

 

Tons of talent, but a bit immature and frankly weird when he came here. Unfortunately, the coaching and the culture was poor, and instead of competent mentors with a plan it was the last disasterous year of Mike Mularkey, a guy who quit his job at the end of the year, and Dick Jauron, who is a pretty decent defensive coordinator who has no business running an entire team. 

 

He was completing 62-63% of his passes over the 2 years when he saw real playing time. For a guy who was known more for long passes to Lee Evans than much of anything else, he did make some decent throws in the short and intermediate game as well.

 

He's my pick for "might've been good" had he been on a competent team with real leadership. Having his leg broken in training camp where there were often fights and generally out of control players doing their own thing pretty much speaks for itself. Coaching was putrid, and the organization was such a mess from the GM down. 

 

 

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On 10/16/2021 at 3:55 PM, BearNorth said:

I sat through the forward lateral in a Skybox in BNA.  Bills D played lights out. With Flutie, game would not have been close enough for it to matter.  To think that Titans team was 2 feet from winning the Lombardi trophy.  NFL really needs to have an rfid chip in every ball, and a grid built into the field for plays like this. Also Bills took 10 penalties in that game to 2 for the Titans, please don't tell me the fix wasn't in.

That 1999 Titans team was actually two feet from tying the Super Bowl against the Rams and going to overtime but not winning the Super Bowl.

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On 10/17/2021 at 5:32 AM, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Yep! I mentioned this last week in the Russell Wilson to miss starts and Geno Smith is his backup. When Todd came in and started for Washington after 10 years of never hearing a peep out of him, I almost gave myself whiplash. My head spun around to the TV and I was like no way that’s the same Todd Collins. Good for him. 

 

That was exactly my reaction: "Todd Collins is still in the league!". 

 

I also had no clue that Geno was still around

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