Ranking the 15 greatest Bills ever

[Gregg]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ranking-the-15-greatest-bills-players-ever-from-josh-allen-to-bruce-smith/ss-AA1GBgbY?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=e0fa87edb6fe4a7b95a1f7d0a527fd4c&ei=13

 

I would have OJ at #2. Yeah, he was a POS, but nobody can deny his talents on the field. While #78 is the greatest defensive player on the Bills, #32 was on the offense. Allen will eventually take that spot as the greatest player on offense but for now I have OJ there.

[FireChans]

24 minutes ago, Gregg said:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ranking-the-15-greatest-bills-players-ever-from-josh-allen-to-bruce-smith/ss-AA1GBgbY?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=e0fa87edb6fe4a7b95a1f7d0a527fd4c&ei=13

 

I would have OJ at #2. Yeah, he was a POS, but nobody can deny his talents on the field. While #78 is the greatest defensive player on the Bills, #32 was on the offense. Allen will eventually take that spot as the greatest player on offense but for now I have OJ there.

Tasker too high, Kelly too high, Josh too low.

[njbuff]

I’ll start with who belongs on be list and worry about the rankings later.

 

Kyle Williams

Thurman Thomas

Jim Kelly

Andre Reed 

Joe Delamielleure

Eric Moulds

Bruce Smith

OJ Simpson

Kent Hull

Cornelius Bennett

Josh Allen

Billy Shaw

Butch Byrd

Cookie Gilchrist

Steve Tasker

 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by njbuff

[Kirby Jackson]

10 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Tasker too high, Kelly too high, Josh too low.

The list is clearly made by outsiders. No knowledgable Bills fan has Kelly over Allen. 
 

The top 3 are: Bruce, OJ and Josh (in whatever order). Thurman is next. Andre and Kelly are the next 2. Joe D follows them. From there, it’s a little subjective.

[oldmanfan]

Can’t open it but here’s my list in order

 

Bruce

OJ

Thurman

Kelly

Shaw

Reed

Allen

Joe D

Tasker

Sestak

Bennett

Butler

Lofton

Gilchrist

Hull

 

[BuffaloMatt]

Fred Smerlas

 

Buffalo Bills (1979–1989)

4× First-team All-Pro (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983)

5× Pro Bowl (1980–1983, 1988)

PFWA All-Rookie Team (1979)

Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame

Buffalo Bills 50th Anniversary Team

Buffalo Bills 25th Anniversary All Time Team

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

Tasker is way too high.  He shouldn't be anywhere on that list.  OJ should be #2 behind Bruce.

[MJS]

Funny. I was thinking about posting a thread about the top 10 Bills of all time. This is how I would probably rank it:

 

1) Bruce Smith (DE)
2) Jim Kelly (QB)
3) Thurman Thomas (RB)
4) Josh Allen (QB)
5) Andre Reed (WR)
6) OJ Simpson (RB)
7) Kent Hull (C)
8 ) Kyle Williams (DT)
9) Mike Stratton (LB)
10) Fred Smerlas (DT)

11) Cornelius Bennett (LB)

12) Billy Shaw (LG)

13) Eric Moulds (WR)

14) Joe DeLamielleure (RG)

15) Steve Tasker (WR)

 

It is hard to rank Tasker, but I can see him as a top 15 Bills player.

 

(Edited)

Edited 20 hours ago by MJS

[oldmanfan]

12 minutes ago, MJS said:

Funny. I was thinking about posting a thread about the top 10 Bills of all time. This is how I would probably rank it:

 

1) Bruce Smith (DE)
2) Jim Kelly (QB)
3) Thurman Thomas (RB)
4) Josh Allen (QB)
5) Andre Reed (WR)
6) OJ Simpson (RB)
7) Kent Hull (C)
8 ) Kyle Williams (DT)
9) Mike Stratton (LB)
10) Fred Smerlas (DT)

11) Jim Ritcher (LG)

12) Cornelius Bennett (LB)

13) Eric Moulds (WR)

14) Darryl Talley (LB)

15) Steve Tasker (WR)

 

It is hard to rank Tasker, but I can see him as a top 15 Bills player.

I think any such list has to have Billy Shaw and Joe D, both HOFers.

[MJS]

7 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

I think any such list has to have Billy Shaw and Joe D, both HOFers.

Yeah. They should probably be on there. I updated my list to include them because you are right.

Edited 20 hours ago by MJS

[Rico]

Josh

Bruce

OJ

Kelly

Thurman

Reed

Shaw

Robert James

Cookie

Sestak

Butch Byrd

Ted Washington

Biscuit

Reggie McKenzie

Joe D

 

 

 

 

 

[EasternOHBillsFan]

I'm sorry, but I cannot in good conscience leave off Mike Stratton, the heart of the Bills defense in the 1960s.

 

Dion Dawkins is in my mind the best LT this team has ever had and could be the greatest OL we have ever had. Many may disagree with that, but he locks it down covering his QBs blind spot, something I have not seen since Will Wolford was a Bill.

 

Bruce Smith

Josh Allen

O.J. Simpson

Thurman Thomas

Andre Reed

Jim Kelly

Butch Byrd

Eric Moulds

Billy Shaw

James Lofton

Dion Dawkins

Cornelius Bennett

Ted Washington

Mike Stratton

Darryl Talley

 

Edited 20 hours ago by EasternOHBillsFan

[MJS]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

The list is clearly made by outsiders. No knowledgable Bills fan has Kelly over Allen. 
 

The top 3 are: Bruce, OJ and Josh (in whatever order). Thurman is next. Andre and Kelly are the next 2. Joe D follows them. From there, it’s a little subjective.

I have Kelly over Allen as well. Kelly took us to 4 superbowls. It isn't a list of talent. Considering the overall Impact, I think Kelly did more. But I have no doubt that Allen will surpass him.

[SoCal Deek]

What would really be interesting is the Top Ten players who played for the Bills but went on to bigger things after leaving. 

[Dave_Bills]

41 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

What would really be interesting is the Top Ten players who played for the Bills but went on to bigger things after leaving. 

Jason Peters and Marshawn Lynch come to mind. I’m sure there are a lot more that escape my mind

[GunnerBill]

I was trying to think who'd make my list (fan since 2002). I was trying to balance pure ability with importance to and impact on the franchise. 

 

1. Josh Allen

2. Kyle Williams

3. Stefon Diggs

4. Mario Williams

5. Tre White

6. Dion Dawkins 

7. Aaron Schobel

8. Matt Milano

9. Jordan Poyer

10. Jason Peters

11. Fred Jackson

12. Taeko Spikes

13. Micah Hyde

14. LeSean McCoy

15. London Fletcher 

 

Honestly the top 4 are easy for me. Josh speaks for himself. Kyle Williams was Mr Buffalo Bills for so long and epitomised the team's fight back to relevance. Then the next two are the two proven elite level superstars the Bills have been able to bring in during my fandom. 

 

I went back and forth then on 5 and 6. I ended up with Tre at 5 because at his peak he was elite and a first team all pro over Dion's durability and consistent excellence at that level just below the elite tackles.

 

After that.... I could take an argument about the rest of my order. That is very subjective. The two guys that just missed out were Gilmore (who I think was a great player for the Bills but not necessarily a great Bill and didn't make a big impact) and Lee Evans who was a good player for a reasonable period. 

 

[oldmanfan]

2 hours ago, MJS said:

I have Kelly over Allen as well. Kelly took us to 4 superbowls. It isn't a list of talent. Considering the overall Impact, I think Kelly did more. But I have no doubt that Allen will surpass him.

I agree.  I suspect in 5 years Allen tops my list.  At least I hope so!

[The Jokeman]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

I have Kelly over Allen as well. Kelly took us to 4 superbowls. It isn't a list of talent. Considering the overall Impact, I think Kelly did more. But I have no doubt that Allen will surpass him.

Put Allen on those Super Bowl teams and bet we win at least 1 if not 2 of those games. Put Kelly in the current edition of Bills and don't think we get as far. Sorry but Kelly has a way better cast around him than Josh has. 

[Doc Brown]

3 hours ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

James Lofton

If we're talking about career as a whole and not just with the Bills then you'd have to include Owens.  If you're talking about career as a Bill I'd put Diggs and Evans ahead of Lofton.

 

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I was trying to think who'd make my list (fan since 2002). I was trying to balance pure ability with importance to and impact on the franchise. 

2002?  Did you watch Music City Miracle and think SIGN ME UP!!!!!

[Victory Formation]

Off the top of my head and in no particular order:

Josh Allen (QB)

Bruce Smith (DE)

Jim Kelly (QB)

Thurman Thomas (RB)

Terrell Owens (WR)

Andre Reed (WR)

Jason Peters (T)

Mario Williams (DE)

Takeo Spikes (LB)

London Fletcher (LB)

Pat Williams (DT)

Ted Washington (DT)

Kyle Williams (DT)

Aaron Schobel (DE)

Jerry Hughes (DE)

Eric Moulds (WR)

James Lofton (WR)

Stefon Diggs (WR)

LeSean McCoy (RB)

Travis Henry (RB)

Nate Clements (CB)

Jairus Byrd (S)

Nate Odoms (S)

Terrence McGee (CB)

Tre White (CB)

Jabari Greer (CB)

Eric Wood (C)

Mitch Morse (C)

Dion Dawkins (LT)

Darryl Talley (LB)

Bryce Paup (LB)

Cornelius Bennett (LB)

Chris Spielman (LB)

Steve Tasker (ST)

Don Beebe (WR)

Eric Moulds (WR)

Stevie Johnson (WR)

Jordan Poyer (S)

Micah Hyde (S)

Edited 15 hours ago by Victory Formation