Rank The Buffalo Bills Starting QB’s Since Jim Kelly

[CSBill]

48 minutes ago, SMAKCruiser said:

The thread is about starters.   Billy Joe Hobert never started a game for the Bills.

 

So I've heard.

[JMF2006]

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  

[hondo in seattle]

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.

[GerstAusGosheim]

Josh Allen

Doug Flutie

Drew Bledsoe

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Tyrod Taylor

.

.

.
.

.

.

.

Nathan Peterman

Rob "I got hit by a snowflake and broke my rib and now it hurts to poop" Johnson

 

[BFLO]

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.   

[DasNootz]

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 October 18, 2021 by DasNootz

[Manther]

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.

[Mat68]

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.   

[thenorthremembers]

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

 

 

[tylerbillsfan33]

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.

[BigDingus]

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.

[dpberr]

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

[Rico]

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.

[HalftimeAdjustment]

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

 

[JohnNord]

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.  

[JohnNord]

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

[RobbRiddick]

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

[TheFunPolice]

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. 

 

 

[tylerbillsfan33]

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.

[ticketssince61]

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