Ranking the Best 10 Bills Players of All Time

Few franchises in professional football boast a history as distinct, emotionally charged, and star-studded as the Buffalo Bills.

Across four definitive eras—the punishing American Football League championship squads of the mid-1960s, the ground-churning 1970s "Electric Company" that powered the league's first 2,000-yard rusher, the revolutionary 1990s no-huddle machine that captured four consecutive AFC crowns, and the modern juggernaut resurrected by Josh Allen—Buffalo's identity has always been forged by transcendent, blue-collar talent.

Ranking the franchise's all-time greatest players requires balancing elite individual peaks against sustained longevity and overall organizational impact. It isn't an easy process. It requires frequent updates as we watch Allen dominate the league year after year in the current era.

Regardless, for now, these 10 icons stand above the rest as the definitive pillars of Buffalo Bills football.

Cornelius Bennett: A member of the 1990s All-Decade Team, he earned five Pro Bowl nods over the course of nine seasons in Buffalo. Bennett was consistently a key ingredient during a wildly successful era in team history, but rarely a superstar.

Darryl Talley: An emotional leader and high-impact warrior, Talley was a tackle machine during a 12-year run with the Bills. That said, he was a Pro Bowler just twice and never a first-team All-Pro. An argument could be made that Bennett and Talley prevent each other from making the top 10. It doesn't help that both were overshadowed by the league's all-time sack leader.

Steve Tasker: Quite possibly the greatest special teams player in league history, Tasker hits an inescapable ceiling because of his snap counts.

Butch Byrd: He remains the franchise's all-time leader in interceptions (40) and pick-sixes (5), while anchoring the defense for two AFL titles. Byrd's peak in Western New York was still relatively compressed. He was a first- or second-team All-Pro four times in a five-season span but was off the roster a year later.

The Snapshot: An extremely durable leader of the offensive line for 11 years who engineered the breakneck tempo of the K-Gun offense during the most successful run for the team in the Super Bowl era.

Claim to Fame: Orchestrating the pre-snap protections and shotgun snaps across 169 starts and four consecutive Super Bowl seasons.

The Body of Work: A three-time Pro Bowler and four-time first- or second-team All-Pro, Hull started 121 consecutive regular-season games at center between 1986 and 1993.

The Catch: He was often overlooked as an interior offensive lineman surrounded by stars at skill positions. He departed his abbreviated prime just as the Bills completed that unforgettable four-year run.

The Snapshot: A six-time AFL All-Star quarterback with Buffalo who was one of the faces of the franchise during its true glory days of the 1960s.

Claim to Fame: Quarterbacked Buffalo to back-to-back AFL titles and won the 1965 AFL MVP.

The Body of Work: The only championship-winning quarterback in Bills history, he posted a 43-31-3 record over seven seasons in Buffalo. Kemp remains fourth in team history in passing yards.

The Catch: It was a short-lived prime. During that Bills stretch, he threw nearly twice as many interceptions (132) as touchdowns (77) while the defense ran the show.

The Snapshot: A Hall of Fame wide receiver who was the offense's primary target for the vast majority of 15 seasons in Buffalo. He was the ultimate pass-catching weapon for Jim Kelly over the course of four consecutive Super Bowl appearances.

Claim to Fame: Buffalo's runaway all-time leader in receptions (941), receiving yards (13,095), and receiving touchdowns (86) was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

The Body of Work: A seven-time Pro Bowler, Reed served as Kelly's go-to receiver and consistently elevated his play in high-leverage playoff spots, punctuated by his legendary three-touchdown performance in " The Comeback ."

The Catch: He was never a first-team All-Pro. He had just one season with 10 touchdowns. Reed was never really the cream of the NFL receiver crop.

The Snapshot: A Hall of Fame guard who started 116 regular-season games for Buffalo from 1961 to 1969 and spent his entire career with the Bills in the AFL.

Claim to Fame: He was a first-team All-AFL selection in five consecutive seasons, two of which were championship campaigns

The Body of Work: He was enshrined in Canton in 1999 as an eight-time AFL All-Star who led the way for one of the best running games of that era. Shaw is also a member of the All-Time AFL Team.

The Catch: Like Kemp, he never played a snap in the NFL.

The Snapshot: A Hall of Fame guard who played eight seasons in Buffalo (1973-1979, 1985) and was O.J. Simpson's top blocker during the most dominant portion of his career.

Claim to Fame: A member of the 1970s All-Decade Team, DeLamielleure started all 14 games at right guard for the 1973 offensive line that blocked for the NFL's first 2,000-yard rusher.

The Body of Work: A 2003 Hall of Fame inductee, DeLamielleure was selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls as a Bill and earned three consecutive first-team All-Pro honors between 1975 and 1977. Between 1973 and 1975, Buffalo's ground game led the NFL in total rushing yards in three straight seasons, averaging 2,829 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns per year.

The Catch: He was arguably still in his prime when he left the Bills for Cleveland in 1980. Who made whom better between DeLamielleure and Simpson is open to debate. Also, he and Simpson are the only players on this list who did very little winning in Buffalo.

The Snapshot: A Hall of Fame running back who played nine seasons in Buffalo (1969-1977), totaling 10,183 rushing yards and 69 scrimmage touchdowns across 112 games.

Claim to Fame: His 143.1 rushing yards per game in 1973 remains the highest qualified mark in NFL history by a considerable margin. That year, Simpson became the first player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season.

The Body of Work: The 1973 MVP wasn't a one-year wonder. He led the league in rushing yardage four times over five years, scoring 54 touchdowns between 1972 and 1976.

The Catch: He wasn't a major factor outside of that five-year window. He didn't contribute to a single playoff win in his NFL career.

The Snapshot: A Hall of Fame dual-threat back who served as the primary offensive engine for four straight AFC Championship teams, producing 18,393 combined regular-season and playoff yards from scrimmage and 108 total touchdowns.

Claim to Fame: Led the NFL in scrimmage yards for four consecutive seasons from 1989 through 1992 and won MVP in 1991.

The Body of Work: He was also a two-time first-team All-Pro and a five-time Pro Bowler. That alone doesn't get him into Simpson's range, but more than 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns in his playoff career make a big difference.

The Catch: He was never quite as dominant as Simpson at their respective peaks, despite playing with far more offensive talent around him. It's a toss-up between the two, but Thomas was more of a big-moment presence.

The Snapshot: A Hall of Fame quarterback who ran Buffalo's no-huddle offense across 11 seasons, compiling 110 total wins (regular season and playoffs) and starting in four consecutive Super Bowls.

Claim to Fame: He's the only quarterback ever to lead his team to four consecutive conference championship victories.

The Body of Work: A five-time Pro Bowler and 1991 first-team All-Pro who led the NFL in passing touchdowns (33) and passer rating (92.3) that season. Kelly remains Buffalo's all-time passing leader with 35,467 yards and 237 touchdowns across 160 starts.

The Catch: Kelly's prime spanned five, maybe six seasons. Of course, he lost all four Super Bowls he played in while posting a mere 72.3 career playoff passer rating. Allen is also about to catch him in all-time touchdown passes and has already surpassed him in total passing/rushing scores.

The Snapshot: A franchise quarterback and four-time Pro Bowler whose 300-plus total passing and rushing touchdowns across his first eight seasons have helped Buffalo become the winningest team of the 2020s to date.

Claim to Fame: The 2024 MVP and 2026 MVP favorite has already rushed for more touchdowns than any quarterback in NFL history. He's the only player in league history to record five consecutive seasons with 40 or more total touchdowns.

The Body of Work: Pro Football Reference's Approximate V alue metric rates Allen as the single most valuable player in football since 2020. He hasn't missed a start since his rookie year in 2018. He holds Buffalo's single-season records for passing yards (4,544 in 2020) and passing touchdowns (37, that same year).

The Catch: The 30-year-old holds an 8-7 career postseason record and has not gotten the Bills to a Super Bowl.

The Snapshot: A Hall of Fame defensive end who played 15 seasons in Buffalo (1985-1999), starting 217 regular-season games and recording 171 sacks as a Bill.

Claim to Fame: The two-time Defensive Player of the Year is officially the NFL's all-time sack king with 200 in his career. He also added 14.5 in the playoffs, starting in four Super Bowls alongside Kelly, Thomas, Reed, Hull, Talley, Bennett and Tasker.

The Body of Work: Smith was named to both the 1980s and 1990s NFL All-Decade Teams. Only two players in modern NFL history have more first-team All-Pro honors than his eight.

The Catch: None. Smith is widely considered one of the best defensive players in the history of the sport. In this case, he pairs unmatched longevity with the highest defensive peak in Bills history.