Rank your Top 10 Bills QBs

[SoTier]

 

2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

This whole exercise is comparing across eras. Kelly was the steward of the best team in football (much like Jalen Hurts this year). He was a very good player (much like Jalen Hurts was this year). He led an elite roster to great places and was a pro bowl player along the way. He made it to the HOF.
 

Josh Allen is arguably the most dominant player in the sport. He’s the most valuable player in the league, playing the most important position. The Bills won a lot even when Reich was in. They won with Kelly and, at times, because of Kelly. This generation of Bills almost always win because of Josh. He’s almost always the best player on the field. Kelly was never the best player on the field. 
 

This isn’t mean as hate on Kelly but the gap between the 2 is wide. One was a great steward of a historically great team. The other IS the reason that the team is great. There isn’t a debate as to who is better. I saw every game that both played. We remember those early 90’s teams fondly but we often misremember why they were so great. It isn’t because they had one of the best QBs ever. They were the best roster in football with a top 40 all-time QB. Josh Allen will be a top 10 all-time QB.

 

Exactly.   I remember one game -- a MNF game I think -- against the Raiders when the Raiders came out loaded for bear to start the game.  I think they were up on the Bills by 2 or 3 TDs at the beginning of the second half.   The Bills won easily because the defense just exploded.  I think that maybe Cornelius Bennett might have had a pick six.   When those Bills defenses turned it on, they could beat anybody, and the offenses were always at the top of the heap, too.

 

Allen has never had a superior defense like those Bills teams.  The 2022 team looked like it might have been but injuries derailed it.

[Kirby Jackson]

22 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

 

Exactly.   I remember one game -- a MNF game I think -- against the Raiders when the Raiders came out loaded for bear to start the game.  I think they were up on the Bills by 2 or 3 TDs at the beginning of the second half.   The Bills won easily because the defense just exploded.  I think that maybe Cornelius Bennett might have had a pick six.   When those Bills defenses turned it on, they could beat anybody, and the offenses were always at the top of the heap, too.

 

Allen has never had a superior defense like those Bills teams.  The 2022 team looked like it might have been but injuries derailed it.

There’s certain “takes” amongst Bills fans that annoy me. The Kelly over Allen take is one of them at this point. There’s not a single thing that Kelly does better. When someone says, “yeah, but he went to 4 Super Bowls” I immediately dismiss them. Those teams had like 5-7 HOFers and 7 guys in the Pro Bowl every year. This year, the Bills had 1 other guy make the Pro Bowl. When the top 100 players in the league came out, they had a guy in the 90’s and Josh. They still won the division at Thanksgiving. If Allen was the QB of those early 90’s teams, they’d be considered the greatest team(s) ever.

 

I think it bothers me because we are watching the greatest player we’ve ever had (with respect to Bruce), in his prime, dominate. Enjoy the ride. In 20 years, you’ll look back on this era and be like, “holy $#%* that guy was incredible.” Don’t wait for the nostalgia to appreciate it like we are Jim. Appreciate it in real time. We may never experience this again. Josh isn’t “good.” He’s the best player in the league and playing the most important position. Don’t overthink it.

Edited Saturday at 12:18 AM by Kirby Jackson

[JohnNord]

On 2/27/2025 at 2:13 PM, JP51 said:

I am sure we are going to get the same players pretty much... I am interested in where they end up in your rankings...  I am also interested in where Kelly and Allen show up in your picks...  here are mine

 

Allen

Kelly

Kemp

Ferguson

Flutie

Bledsoe

Fitz

Lamonica

Tyrod

Frank Reich

 

 

This is tough for me because I have no knowledge before Kelly, so I’ll omit those QB’s.  But I definitely think Allen is #1 and Kelly #2.  These rest is of that list is tough to make out.  I’d probably say:

 

1. Allen

2. Kelly

3. Flutie

4. Tyrod

5. Bledsoe

6. Fitz

7. Reich

8. Orton

9. Ej Manuel, Trent Edwards, JP Losman

[dgrochester55]

On 2/27/2025 at 7:37 PM, The Frankish Reich said:

I'll bite.

1. Namath (yeah, I know, didn't really deserve the HOF, but still ... first AFL/C Super Bowl)

2. Testaverde

3. Todd

4. O'Brien

5. Pennington

6. Favre

7. Fitz

8. Sanchez

9. Boomer

10. O'Donnell

 

You could argue that other than the Top 2 (Kelly/Allen vs. Namath/Vinny), the Jets 3-10 are actually better than the Bills 3-10. Of course that doesn't matter, does it.

 

 

I am not surprised by this. The Jets have never had an elite QB in the tier of Allen or Kelly, but they have had many QB's at the serviceable starter/slightly above average level until recently when they started the "draft a qb every three years who looks like a bust until they resurrect their career on another team" strategy. I remember many of the years without Kelly and Allen where the Jets sadly had the more stable QB situation.

[Thrivefourfive]

On 2/27/2025 at 11:28 AM, DrDawkinstein said:

 

I get what youre saying. I'd also argue that if Allen had Kelly's defenses he would have WON 4 Super Bowls already.

1

 

14 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

There’s certain “takes” amongst Bills fans that annoy me. The Kelly over Allen take is one of them at this point. There’s not a single thing that Kelly does better. When someone says, “yeah, but he went to 4 Super Bowls” I immediately dismiss them. Those teams had like 5-7 HOFers and 7 guys in the Pro Bowl every year. This year, the Bills had 1 other guy make the Pro Bowl. When the top 100 players in the league came out, they had a guy in the 90’s and Josh. They still won the division at Thanksgiving. If Allen was the QB of those early 90’s teams, they’d be considered the greatest team(s) ever.

 

I think it bothers me because we are watching the greatest player we’ve ever had (with respect to Bruce), in his prime, dominate. Enjoy the ride. In 20 years, you’ll look back on this era and be like, “holy $#%* that guy was incredible.” Don’t wait for the nostalgia to appreciate it like we are Jim. Appreciate it in real time. We may never experience this again. Josh isn’t “good.” He’s the best player in the league and playing the most important position. Don’t overthink it.

Case for Garrett. Bills would be crazy to not lean towards moves that win now. It’s a balancing act.. present day vs future of the club. But this is it.. it has been it for the past FIVE YEARS.. can’t let this guy slip out without a ring. Just need to die trying

 

Edited Saturday at 02:54 PM by Thrivefourfive
cuz I like it like it yes I do

[Kirby Jackson]

36 minutes ago, Thrivefourfive said:

1

 

Case for Garrett. Bills would be crazy to not lean towards moves that win now. It’s a balancing act.. present day vs future of the club. But this is it.. it has been it for the past FIVE YEARS.. can’t let this guy slip out without a ring. Just need to die trying

 

Perfectly said!! The future IS now. We have 5-7 years left of prime Josh Allen IMO. Every decision should be made through that lens. Anything after that is a reset anyways. All in

[Another Fan]

An older Millennial so will only include ones I've seen play.  I still have love for Joe Ferguson though

 

1. Kelly

2. Allen

3. Reich

4. Flutie

5. tie btw Fitz and Tyrod

6.  Orton

7.  Bledsoe

8.   pretty much Johnson/Losman/Edwards/Locomb/Manuel are the same to me 

15 hours ago, JohnNord said:

This is tough for me because I have no knowledge before Kelly, so I’ll omit those QB’s.  But I definitely think Allen is #1 and Kelly #2.  These rest is of that list is tough to make out.  I’d probably say:

 

1. Allen

2. Kelly

3. Flutie

4. Tyrod

5. Bledsoe

6. Fitz

7. Reich

8. Orton

9. Ej Manuel, Trent Edwards, JP Losman

Want back and edited mine after seeing you included Reich.  Loved the dude even though he wasn't ever a starter 

Edited Saturday at 03:41 PM by Another Fan

[Kirby Jackson]

For the people that have Kelly over Allen what is the reason? Please don’t use the Super Bowl argument because the talent  gap between those teams is wide. If you believe that Allen wouldn’t have accomplished what Kelly did with those teams, we disagree but at least it’s a “reason.” Otherwise, if you look at every element of playing QB, and put them side-by-side there’s not a single check in the Kelly column. He’d admit that.

 

I think that part of the reason that it annoys me is that there is no logical reason to have Kelly over Allen. Any argument made is a lazy one. Now if you liked Kelly more, that’s cool too. But to try to argue that he was the better player is borderline crazy at this point. 

[FireChans]

16 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

There’s certain “takes” amongst Bills fans that annoy me. The Kelly over Allen take is one of them at this point. There’s not a single thing that Kelly does better. When someone says, “yeah, but he went to 4 Super Bowls” I immediately dismiss them. Those teams had like 5-7 HOFers and 7 guys in the Pro Bowl every year. This year, the Bills had 1 other guy make the Pro Bowl. When the top 100 players in the league came out, they had a guy in the 90’s and Josh. They still won the division at Thanksgiving. If Allen was the QB of those early 90’s teams, they’d be considered the greatest team(s) ever.

 

I think it bothers me because we are watching the greatest player we’ve ever had (with respect to Bruce), in his prime, dominate. Enjoy the ride. In 20 years, you’ll look back on this era and be like, “holy $#%* that guy was incredible.” Don’t wait for the nostalgia to appreciate it like we are Jim. Appreciate it in real time. We may never experience this again. Josh isn’t “good.” He’s the best player in the league and playing the most important position. Don’t overthink it.

Bills fans want to underrate Josh and overrate Kelly because they don’t want to believe Kelly is the reason that we don’t have one SB title from those HoF teams and they don’t want to believe everything other than Josh is the reason we don’t have an SB with him. 

[Kirby Jackson]

2 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Bills fans want to underrate Josh and overrate Kelly because they don’t want to believe Kelly is the reason that we don’t have one SB title from those HoF teams and they don’t want to believe everything other than Josh is the reason we don’t have an SB with him. 

If you have Kelly ahead of Josh, you should probably have Jalen Hurts over him as well. The reasoning would be similar. He’s a top 5ish QB that’s a winner. He’s been great in the 2 Super Bowls. There isn’t one Bills fan that I know of that ranks Hurts ahead of Josh. 

[FireChans]

4 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

If you have Kelly ahead of Josh, you should probably have Jalen Hurts over him as well. The reasoning would be similar. He’s a top 5ish QB that’s a winner. He’s been great in the 2 Super Bowls. There isn’t one Bills fan that I know of that ranks Hurts ahead of Josh. 

The reason I have a boulder of salt about Jim’s 4 SB accomplishments. 
 

He played awful in those SB’s. 2 TD’s, 7 INT’s. 3/4 with a passer rating no higher than 67.

 

He had multiple HoFers every year on those squads

 

Josh has never had a teammate who is gonna make the HoF. Ever.

[Kirby Jackson]

10 minutes ago, FireChans said:

The reason I have a boulder of salt about Jim’s 4 SB accomplishments. 
 

He played awful in those SB’s. 2 TD’s, 7 INT’s. 3/4 with a passer rating no higher than 67.

 

He had multiple HoFers every year on those squads

 

Josh has never had a teammate who is gonna make the HoF. Ever.

Well not on their bills accomplishments anyways (Von is headed there). Diggs has a shot too and the Bills would be a big part of that but point taken. Give Josh Myles Garrett and he wins.

[Negan]

1. Allen

2. Kelly

 

Everyone else 

[T master]

On 2/27/2025 at 1:13 PM, JP51 said:

I am sure we are going to get the same players pretty much... I am interested in where they end up in your rankings...  I am also interested in where Kelly and Allen show up in your picks...  here are mine

 

Allen

Kelly

Kemp

Ferguson

Flutie

Bledsoe

Fitz

Lamonica

Tyrod

Frank Reich

 

 

 

Are you rating them in order of stats, Championships, leadership or all of the above ? 

[DrBob806]

1) Allen

2) Ferguson

3) Rob Johnson

4) Kelly

[GASabresIUFan]

1. Kemp - 2 AFL Championships

2. Kelly - 4 Conference Championships, 6 Divisional Titles

3. Allen - 5 Divisional titles

4. Ferguson - 1 Divisional Title, 3 playoff appearances. Leader in games played
 

5.  Taylor - 1 playoff appearance 

6.  Flutie - 1 playoff appearance, although Ralph Wilson ordered Rob Johnson to start the playoff game (allegedly)  

 

7. Bledsoe - 6th in games, 6th in yards and a nearly 500 winning %

8. Fitzpatrick - 5th in games, 5th in yards but a terrible .379 winning %

 

No one else matters.  (Shaw and Losman would be the next two, but are they even relevant?)

Edited Sunday at 04:38 PM by GASabresIUFan

[JohnNord]

On 3/1/2025 at 11:45 AM, Kirby Jackson said:

If you have Kelly ahead of Josh, you should probably have Jalen Hurts over him as well. The reasoning would be similar. He’s a top 5ish QB that’s a winner. He’s been great in the 2 Super Bowls. There isn’t one Bills fan that I know of that ranks Hurts ahead of Josh. 

Correct.  It’s also the same argument for giving Josh the MVP over Lamar Jackson.  Kelly’s team was loaded with talent (including a RB that won MVP himself) not just on offense but also on the defensive side as well.  You can argue 3/4 AFCCG’s were won win defense and/or an exceptional run game as opposed to passing.  
 

In fact I’d argue Kelly didn’t play well in 1991 or 1992 AFCCG.  

 

Not taking anything away from Kelly.  He was a great QB and a HOF’er and his mentality, toughness, and  leadership set the tone for the team.  The fact that he was one of the first QB’s to call plays on the fly was impressive as well.  

 

I just think that as a QB Josh Allen is far superior.  

[Kirby Jackson]

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

1. Kemp - 2 AFL Championships

2. Kelly - 4 Conference Championships, 6 Divisional Titles

3. Allen - 5 Divisional titles

4. Ferguson - 1 Divisional Title, 3 playoff appearances. Leader in games played
 

5.  Taylor - 1 playoff appearance 

6.  Flutie - 1 playoff appearance, although Ralph Wilson ordered Rob Johnson to start the playoff game (allegedly)  

 

7. Bledsoe - 6th in games, 6th in yards and a nearly 500 winning %

8. Fitzpatrick - 5th in games, 5th in yards but a terrible .379 winning %

 

No one else matters.  (Shaw and Losman would be the next two, but are they even relevant?)

Safe to say, Jalen Hurts would be the best QB in Bills History then? Dilfer over Allen? 

Edited Sunday at 07:43 PM by Kirby Jackson

[CoudyBills]

On 2/27/2025 at 3:50 PM, Jamie Nails said:

Nathan Peterman

Gibran Hamden 

Billy Joe Hobert

Vince Young 
Matt Leinert 

Cardale Jones 

Thad Lewis 

Matt Simms

Jeff Tuel 

Alex Van Pelt  

This guy *****

[JP51]

22 hours ago, T master said:

 

Are you rating them in order of stats, Championships, leadership or all of the above ? 

Literally none of the above and all of the above... just my personal opinion of what I have seen... I am certainly trying to take Stats, Era, W/L overall team compliment,  etc... into account... but simply its just my impression... 

On 2/28/2025 at 7:16 PM, JohnNord said:

This is tough for me because I have no knowledge before Kelly, so I’ll omit those QB’s.  But I definitely think Allen is #1 and Kelly #2.  These rest is of that list is tough to make out.  I’d probably say:

 

1. Allen

2. Kelly

3. Flutie

4. Tyrod

5. Bledsoe

6. Fitz

7. Reich

8. Orton

9. Ej Manuel, Trent Edwards, JP Losman

I picked Lamonica, I may have actually seen him play but I was like 3 ... so... there is that... same thing with Kemp... so yeah when you are going thru history no doubt you are relying on conjecture and opinion from others...