Best Player in Bills History

[Danger Mouse]

On 12/16/2024 at 4:11 PM, boyst said:

It's Bruce Smith.

 

Josh needs to lose 4 consecutive Super Bowls to catch up to Bruce.

Plenty of time 

[Steve O]

On 12/16/2024 at 11:08 AM, HOUSE said:

Most of you guys were not born when Bruce Smith played and it shows

Sir, are you old enough to have seen OJ play? Only player ever to rush for 2,000 yards in 14 games. Sad the way things turned out.

[HOUSE]

2 minutes ago, Steve O said:

Sir, are you old enough to have seen OJ play? Only player ever to rush for 2,000 yards in 14 games. Sad the way things turned out.

I was there with season tickets for his rookie year. The poor guy had no OL and man was he frustrated.

Edited December 17 by HOUSE

[hondo in seattle]

1 hour ago, L Ron Burgundy said:

He's made top offenses out of average to above average supporting casts.  He's also getting better.  The one and only weak point imo is his deep ball.  

 

Which is weird (or maybe my memory was weird) because I recall his deep ball being one of his strengths his first couple of seasons.

 

I think his bigger weakness has been decision making: making throws when his feet aren't set, choosing the deeper covered receiver instead of the shorter open receiver, not throwing on schedule because he's hoping something better might open up, etc.  But he does seem to be making better decisions this year.  

[IsolateThis]

On 12/16/2024 at 11:08 AM, HOUSE said:

Most of you guys were not born when Bruce Smith played and it shows

I was. Born in 76. But am not so old that I can't see who literally carries this team and forces them to win. As amazing as Bruce was - he wasn't that.

[Italian Bills]

On 12/16/2024 at 5:08 PM, HOUSE said:

Most of you guys were not born when Bruce Smith played and it shows

Totally agree with you, my vote fall on the 78 ! 

[vincec]

On 12/16/2024 at 11:14 AM, TrentEdwardsCheckDownOn4th said:

I'm sorry but Jim Kelly should make this list before OJ. QB position is so much more valuable. Jim Kelly was magnitudes more valuable to this franchise than OJ and it was for a longer period of time.

 

But to answer your question,  my choice is Josh Allen and If he wins a super bowl this year it won't even be close anymore. 

Back when OJ played, RBs were more valuable than QBs. He is the other contender, but it’s Josh IMO. Bruce Smith was the best defensive player they ever had and probably equally talented physically, but as has been said in other posts, Allen contributes more by virtue of his position.

On 12/16/2024 at 11:11 AM, boyst said:

It's Bruce Smith.

 

Josh needs to lose 4 consecutive Super Bowls to catch up to Bruce.

Give Josh four hall of famers on the other side of the ball and let’s see what happens.

Edited December 18 by vincec

[stevestojan]

I voted for Josh for one particular reason: he’s the best bills player ever. Bruce was dominate, sure. But my god we weren’t talking - week after week - about what the latest NFL record Bruce broke was. Mind you, DEs’ stats aren’t as numerous but come on. To me this isn’t even close and it’s not recency bias. 

[JTown]

On 12/16/2024 at 11:11 AM, boyst said:

It's Bruce Smith.

 

Josh needs to lose 4 consecutive Super Bowls to catch up to Bruce.

With McClappy at the helm.... I would say the odds are in Josh's favor.  JK..... KINDA

[vincec]

On 12/16/2024 at 11:27 AM, chongli said:

I think it is premature to include Josh. Right now it is OJ.

Every time OJ got the ball, the whole stadium used to stand up waiting to see something spectacular. It’s hard to express how electrifying a presence he was, especially to a youngster like me. But having said that, I still think it’s Allen. When he escapes the pocket it’s almost the same feeling and he’s already led more team success than OJ ever did.

[Dan Darragh]

Cookie.

[boyst]

1 hour ago, vincec said:

Back when OJ played, RBs were more valuable than QBs. He is the other contender, but it’s Josh IMO. Bruce Smith was the best defensive player they ever had and probably equally talented physically, but as has been said in other posts, Allen contributes more by virtue of his position.

Give Josh four hall of famers on the other side of the ball and let’s see what happens.

We lose four in a row? 🤣😍

[notpolian]

A couple more thoughts.  I think given his long career and tremendous production, Bruce is a proven all time great player.  Allen doesn't have the longevity or records yet, but he is very much the MVP to his team and probably the whole NFL this year.  I don't know that any defensive player could be MVP in the modern NFL.

 

Bruce was one of the best ever at his position.  Allen may end up there.

 

P.S. I will gladly contribute to a statue fund if they win the SB with him at QB.

 

I also remember the whole stadium yelling "Juice, Juice, Juice!!".  Pretty exciting stuff for a 3rd or

4th grader who got to go to one game a year...

 

Edited December 18 by notpolian

[Danger Mouse]

I'm currently watching as much as I can find of the '91 season on youtube and I don't think we've seen anything like Allen

 

My apologies to anyone who was there, saw Kelly, and disagrees, I will defer to you.

 

But we've never had Josh Allen before. The closest was the juice. His reel is insane.

 

(Btw never realised what a monster Cornelius Bennett was before, thought Smith was everything by reputation. But Bennett was a wrecking machine ... youtube is great)

[amprov56]

On 12/17/2024 at 4:11 PM, Italian Bills said:

Totally agree with you, my vote fall on the 78 ! 

Agree but JA replacing!

[billsfan714]

Having seen them all I would say Bruce is one, OJ is 2.   Interesting tidbit with Barkley chasing the rushing record, OJ still holds the single season rushing yards per game as he got his 2000 in a 14 game season.   In 73 he averaged 143 yards a game, still the best ever, 10 yards per game better than second place, the legendary Jim Brown. That record has stood for over 50 years now, that's saying something. He also has the 6th best yards per game season in 75.

 

For further perspective, to equal OJs per game average in 73, someone in a 17 game season would have to rush for 2,432.7 yards in a season.

Edited Tuesday at 12:53 AM by billsfan714

[chongli]

On 12/16/2024 at 8:29 AM, CaseyatBat said:

Its Bruce Smith. He's the only player to hold an all-time league record

 

Google AI says otherwise:

 

O.J. Simpson holds several NFL records, including: 

 

Most rushing yards in a season: Simpson rushed for 2,003 yards in 1973, becoming the first player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season. 

 

Most rushing yards per game: Simpson averaged 143.1 yards per game in 1973, which is still an NFL record. 

 

Most rushing touchdowns in a season: Simpson rushed for 16 touchdowns in 1975. 

 

Most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown: Simpson scored a touchdown in seven consecutive games from November 9, 1975 to December 20, 1975. 

 

Most rushing attempts in a season: Simpson rushed 332 times in 1973. 

 

Most rushing attempts in a game: Simpson rushed 39 times in a game against Kansas City on October 29, 1973. 

 

Most rushing yards in a game: Simpson rushed for 273 yards in a game against Detroit on November 25, 1976. 

 

Most games with 200 yards or more rushing: Simpson shares this record with Adrian Peterson and Derrick Henry

[Chicken Boo]

I voted OJ because 2,000 yards in 14 games.  

 

Plain ridiculous.

 

Allen is the easy answer.  

[stevestojan]

On 12/17/2024 at 6:06 PM, boyst said:

We lose four in a row? 🤣😍

too soon

[Dr.Sack]

Bruce Smith is the greatest Bill of all-time.