Who had the most impressive MVP season among the three Bills MVP's????

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

7 hours ago, US Egg said:

O.J.’s 2003 season captivated the sports nation like Maris/Mantle chasing Ruth.
 

In that regard, the others pale in comparison.

I wasn’t around for OJ, but I am going to take the word of long time fans so I voted for him. I think Josh had a more impressive season last year if I’m being honest. Those interceptions never amounted to much and that last stretch of games to win the AFCE was as clutch as you can get. 4300 yards 29 TDs 18 picks 524 rushing 15 TDs. Absolute monster season 

[ganesh]

I understand the urge to vote for OJ.  However, a RB has mostly a single faceted game.  On the other hand, Josh wins games from every possible angle.

[cwater10]

OJ all day long.  If you saw it, you know.  It was a season like no other, ever.   

[Beast]

Simpson

8 hours ago, ganesh said:

I understand the urge to vote for OJ.  However, a RB has mostly a single faceted game.  On the other hand, Josh wins games from every possible angle.

Teams SOLD OUT against the run that year when Simpson won it.

 

OJ ran the ball over 60 percent of their offensive plays. Think about that for a second. And he had a 6.0 ypc.

[Kelly to Allen]

Looking back on everything it is pretty incredible that the wide receiver room had a few injuries with Samuel had to make a trade for Cooper and then he got hurt, Kincaid got hurt , Coleman got hurt and yet Allen still had a MVP season.... And that's with sitting out the last game!!!

 

I said before that Allen obviously took a superstar jump in 2020 but then he took another jump this past year from the pocket. Many of the games including the Seattle game I could swear Josh Allen reminded me of Tom Brady just sitting in the pocket and taking with the defense gave him. There was definitely  another level of growth. 

 

All that being said, OJ Simpsons 2000 yards in 14 games when everybody knew he was getting the ball is one of the greatest single seasons in all of sports history. 

39 minutes ago, Beast said:

Simpson

Teams SOLD OUT against the run that year when Simpson won it.

 

OJ ran the ball over 60 percent of their offensive plays. Think about that for a second. And he had a 6.0 ypc.

 

Not only that but OJ ran with such a unique style of Grace and speed that has been rarely seen from that position. Outside of Barry Sanders he's probably one of the coolest running backs just to watch play from an eye test standpoint

 

It was almost like OJ was skating or gliding across the football field

Edited Thursday at 12:29 PM by Kelly to Allen

[NoName]

Thurman might have been the biggest reason I became a Bills fan.   I wasn't around when OJ played.  But from what I've read and the videos I've seen, I would say OJ with Josh being a close second.

[ProcessTruster]

Has to be Josh, even though last season was probably not his best

 

In general, without him, the drought could now easily be 25 seasons long, Lovie Smith would be the 4th HC and Jameis Winston the 4th Qb in the last 6 seasons.  

[Buffalo_Stampede]

I picked Josh because I didn’t see the other 2 play.

[Gregg]

29 minutes ago, NoName said:

Thurman might have been the biggest reason I became a Bills fan.   I wasn't around when OJ played.  But from what I've read and the videos I've seen, I would say OJ with Josh being a close second.

 

Josh will probably replace OJ when it's all said and done but right now, I would say the greatest offensive and defensive players in Bills history are 32 and 78. 

[Shaw66]

12 minutes ago, ProcessTruster said:

 

In general, without him, the drought could now easily be 25 seasons long, Lovie Smith would be the 4th HC and Jameis Winston the 4th Qb in the last 6 seasons.  

The drought ended before Josh arrived.  

[kitchen sink]

19 hours ago, Gregg said:

 

He turned out to be a POS but that doesn't take away from what he accomplished on the field.

It does for me.

[BearNorth]

People forget that OJ got to 2,000 that year on a snow covered field, had 200 yards on 34 carries, Bills had a total of 60 rushing plays in the game.  Boobie Braxton had 98 yards on 24 carries with 2 TD's.  Bills only threw 5 passes in that game.

[GASabresIUFan]

7 hours ago, cwater10 said:

OJ all day long.  If you saw it, you know.  It was a season like no other, ever.   

It’s funny, but I don’t think that was his best season.  I thought then and think now he was better in 1975 when he had 1800 yards rushing and an additional 400+ in the passing game. He had only 70 receiving yards in 1973.   

[JP51]

OJ did something no one else had done, and no one has done since... 2003 yards in 14 games with an offense whose passing attack was as dangerous as a bee bee gun...   I remember watching that game... and hearing Rick Azar saying... we don't understand yet what a privilege it has been to watch OJ run for 2000 yards.. 

 

Taking none of the shine off of Josh or Thurman, and giving no extra credit to OJ past what he did on a football field... 

[JP51]

7 hours ago, cwater10 said:

OJ all day long.  If you saw it, you know.  It was a season like no other, ever.   

This definitely falls into the IYKYK category....  completely understand the generation gap here... if you didnt see it you wouldnt believe it...  9 men in the box all season long and this guy averages almost 150 yards a game with a rookie 3rd rd QB that threw like 10 times a game...  Saban came out and said our offensive game plan is ... OJ left, OJ right, OJ up the middle...  stop it... 

Edited Thursday at 06:58 PM by JP51

[prissythecat]

OJ's  MVP season was a lot more dominant as evidenced by his 74 of 78 first place votes for MVP.   Josh just edged out Lamar this past season for MVP getting  27 vs 22 first place votes.

[Mr. WEO]

OJ was Most Violent Person in that 94 season...

[GreggTX]

OJ. Not even close. No one else has EVER topped 2000 yards in just 14 games. He was a threat to score from the bench. Seriously though, that was the single best season has ever put together in any NFL uniform.

[msw2112]

I despise OJ.  He's a murderer and the world became a better place when he finally passed away.  That doesn't change the fact that the season he had in 1973 was historically great.  What he did then had never been done and has not been done since.  I love Thurman and Allen and admire their greatness.  They are good people and deserving MVPs.  But the original question was which MVP season was the most impressive.  OJ's season was the most impressive, by a wide margin.

 

I agree with one comment above which said that for Allen to do something comparable, he'd need to throw for 6,000 yards.  Obviously, there are other combinations of stats that could get you there (pass for 5,000 and rush for 1,000, etc.) but the point is spot on in demonstrating how far above the competition OJ's performance was that season.

 

I believe that if Allen can get over the hump and win a Super Bowl that he will go down in history as one of the all-time great QBs.  He's that good.  He was a very deserving MVP this season.  That still does not mean that his accomplishments this season, relative to other players' accomplishments over the course of NFL history, makes his season better than OJ's 1973 season.

[PrimeTime101]

On 2/19/2025 at 1:53 PM, Special K said:

I think arguments can be made for all three to be the best for different reasons, but if I had to rank them, I would give a slight edge to Josh Allen over OJ, with Thurman's really impressive season 3rd.

 

Who ya got??

 

OJ Simpson: 

 

In 14 Games...... 

Rushed for 2,003 yards and 12 touchdowns

Led the NFL in rushing attempts (332) and rushing touchdowns (12)

Averaged 143.1 yards rushing per game

Had three 200-yard rushing games, six 150-yard rushing games, and eleven 100-yard rushing games

 

Thurman Thomas:

 

In 16 games.....

Rushing: 1,407 yards on 339 attempts

Receiving: 62 receptions for 631 yards

Touchdowns: 12 touchdowns

All-purpose yards: Over 2,000 yards

 

Josh Allen:

 

In 17 starts(truly 16 games played)........

Completion percentage: 63.6% 

Passing yards: 3,731 

Passing TDs: 28 

Interceptions: 6 

Yards per attempt: 7.7 

Passer rating: 101.4 

QBR: 77.3 

Rushing yards: 531 

Rushing TDs: 12 

Yards per carry: 5.2 

 

 

I picked OJ but lets be honest here.. This is 3 different era's of football we are talking about.  While OJ played, it was way more common to build teams around the run then the pass. During Thurman's year, protection schemes balanced and the ball started to get thrown more often.  Now offensive lines are more built on defending the passer.  OJ edges this one out.. but only by the tip of his nose..