Ryan Fitzpatrick started 52 of a possible 64 games in his four seasons in Buffalo. Threw for 80 tds against 64 picks....
Fred Jackson was the Bills' leading rusher in three of Fitzpatrick's first four seasons. C.J Spiller the other. Top receiving threats were Terrel Owens in his last season and Stevie Johnson; who is the only Bill WR to record three straight 1,000 yd seasons...Ryan Fitzpatrick was efficient at times and appeared to be among the best QB's Buffalo has had in the last 20 years. He will be remembered as an overachieving 7th rounder, who resurrected his journeyman career there.
Adept at game management and improvisation. Well liked in Buffalo.
Starting record of 20-33 in Buffalo. Played under coaches Dick Jauron, Perry Fewell and Chan Gailey.
He is still going in 2015, leading the Houston Texans. Had a career best
| 95.3 passer rating last season. |
Drew Bledsoe remains ranked 10th all time in NFL career passing yards. He played 14 years.
To his credit, the 2004 squad finished 9-7 despite a 1-5 start, many wins coming in dominant fashion. Bledsoe's big flaw in western NY was a terrible 2003....especially given the talent around him. The line was a problem also. The team finished 6-10 and he produced by far the lowest yards per game total and Qb rating of his career. The 4-time pro bowler was sacked a league high 49 times that year.
Consider his leading backfield mate Travis Henry's numbers in 2002 and 2003:
2002- 325 carries 1,438 yds 4.4 avg. 13 tds
43 catches 309 yds 1 td 11 fumbles
2003- 331 carries for 1,356 yds 10 tds
| 28 catches 158 yds 1 td 7 fumbles | |||||||||||
284 carries for 1,128 yds 3.8 avg. 13tds
Eric Moulds' 2000 numbers:
| 100 catches | 1,287 yds | 12.9 avg. 10tds |
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FANS thought Doug Flutie should have never been sat for that now infamous "freak loss" to Tennessee in the 1999 wild card playoffs. His record as a starter with Buffalo (from '98-'00)
was an impressive 21-9. The man knew how to command an offense and had an impressive knack for imrovisation; something he displayed at his many other stops in the NFL and the CFL also.
He threw 47 tds against 30 ints for the Bills.
KELLY HOLCOMB
Kevin Kolb
FANS thought Doug Flutie should have never been sat for that now infamous "freak loss" to Tennessee in the 1999 wild card playoffs. His record as a starter with Buffalo (from '98-'00)
was an impressive 21-9. The man knew how to command an offense and had an impressive knack for imrovisation; something he displayed at his many other stops in the NFL and the CFL also.
He threw 47 tds against 30 ints for the Bills.
Todd Collins. 7-10 record. 16-19 TD-int ratio.
Buffalo's second round pick (45th overall) in 1995. Played in Buffalo from 95-97, starting 4 games in two seasons behind an aging Jim Kelly, vying for PT with Alex Van Pelt. To be fair, Collins' QB rating was comparable to Jim Kelly's in his three starts in 1996. Kelly threw for just 14 tds against 19 int's that year, his final season.
In 1997, his lone as the unquestioned leader of the Bills offense, Collins threw for just 2,300 yds, with 12 touchdowns and 13 picks. The team lost six of the last seven games in Marv Levy's final season.
A year prior, the future looked bright for Collins' future with the Bills. He played well in his last action of the season with the Bills up by 14 in the 3rd qtr of week 12, against a would be 1-15 Jets team led by Frank Reich.
Following that game Buffalo, again in Kelly's last season, was positioned at 9-3 and a strong contender for the AFC title. Darick Holmes and Quinn Early were the leading rushers and receivers behind also aging vets Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed. Both HOFs barely eclipsed 1,000 yards.
Buffalo went on to lose three of four to end the season and lost to the expansion Jaguars in the wildcard round 10-7. This was the last hurrah for the dynasty that appeared in four straight SuperBowls.
Collins produced a 69.5 rating at the helm in 1997. The team finished 6-10.
 KYLE ORTON 7-5 Record. 19 tds -10 ints |
| Kyle Orton's leading rusher in 2014 was Fred Jackson, with just 525 yards, Jackson also led the team in receptions, while rookie receiver Sammy Watkins nearly reached 1,000 yards in a spectacular debut. Playing for his 5th team in 9 seasons, Orton threw for 3,018 yards, 18 tds and 10 int's; posting a career best 87.8 rating. |
J.P Losman |
| led the team for one season (2006), exactly 10 years after the legendary Jim Kelly made his departure. Losman has the distinction of being an afterthought as a first round pick (22nd overall) in a draft that included Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning and Philip Rivers.  He didnt see the field in his 2004 rookie season, but played frustratingly mediocre, while going 1-7 as a starter and throwing for 8 tds and 8 picks in '05. To his credit Losman did prove durable in starting all 16 games in his 3rd season. His TD to INT ratio improved from 19-14 and the team finished 7-9. Third year pro Lee Evans was the lone receiving threat in '06 and put in his best work as a pro with 82 catches for 1,292 yds and 8 tds. The Bills finished 27th in offense and 28th in rushing and passing, respectively. An at then end of his road Peerless Price had just 49 catches and 402 yards, but still was the team's second best options in the passing game. Over the next five years, Losman went on to win just 2 of 9 starts before retiring with the Dolphins in 2011 at age 30. |
KELLY HOLCOMB
had a record of 8-16 in his six yr. career with 4 teams. His best work was done with Buffalo in 2005. That year he started 8 games going 4-4.
Kevin Kolb
Kolb started for two games in place of the injured Donovan McNabb during the 2009 NFL season for the Eagles, and earned NFC Player of the Week honors following his week 3 performance against the Kansas City Chiefs. Following McNabb's trade to the Washington Redskins in April 2010, Kolb became the starting quarterback for the Eagles. However, after suffering a concussion in week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, Kolb was replaced at quarterback by Michael Vick. Vick suffered a rib cartilage injury in week four and Kolb was named the starter. When Vick returned after week eight, Kolb was relegated to a backup role. Kolb was traded to the Arizona Cardinals on July 28, 2011, in exchange for cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a second-round draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Kolb agreed to a two-year contract for $13 million with the Bills in 2013. On August 24, Kolb suffered a severe concussion in a preseason game against the Washington Redskins. He was placed on injured reserve on August 30. Kolb was released in March 2014. Never having played a regular season down for Buffalo. Kolb remains retired.
MATT CASSEL ...likely starter 2015
<<<<<Chris Simms is on the Bills roster for 2015 and is expected to compete to be the 3rd QB option with Tyrod Taylor, an athletic QB, who has less pro experience.
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A 3rd-round pick for Buffalo, Trent Edwards was to be the QB of the future in Western, NY. From 2007-2009, Edwards posted a mediocre 14-16 record in Buffalo, putting up modest numbers on a team that never could muster any consistency despite showing flashes. He was eventually replaced by a more effective Ryan Fitzpatrick. Trent Edwards started one more game over the next three seasons and was out of the league by 2012.
| BILLS QUARTERBACKS going into 2015 |
MATT CASSEL ...likely starter 2015
 | |||
| Matt Cassel never started a game at USC. Yet in his second year as a pro he helped lead the 2012 Patriots to an 11-5 finish in the year remembered most for Tom Brady's absence. One of the few teams in league history to miss the playoffs with 11 wins; the year prior they finished 16-0 and the schedule did them no favors. He brings with him to Buffalo a 96-70 td-int ratio and the following accolades through his 10yr career with the Pats, four seasons leading KC and the last two largely ineffective with Minnesota.
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<<<<<Chris Simms is on the Bills roster for 2015 and is expected to compete to be the 3rd QB option with Tyrod Taylor, an athletic QB, who has less pro experience. 
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Rob Johnson , the Jaguars in exchange for the Bills' first and fourth round picks in the '98 draft. Johnson was immediately named the starting quarterback after signing a five-year, $25 million contract. First-year Bills' head coach Wade Phillips proclaimed Johnson's arrival as the start of a "new era" for the franchise. This all happened following just 1 start in 3 seasons in expansion Jacksonville. He also started and won the final two preseason games in'97.  A member of the Bills for parts of four seasons, ultimately he finished with a 9-17 record there. He will always be remembered as the guy the coaching staff started over Doug Flutie during the height of Flutiemania, in the Music City Miracle against Tennessee in '99. Buffalo's last playoff appearance.  |
A 3rd-round pick for Buffalo, Trent Edwards was to be the QB of the future in Western, NY. From 2007-2009, Edwards posted a mediocre 14-16 record in Buffalo, putting up modest numbers on a team that never could muster any consistency despite showing flashes. He was eventually replaced by a more effective Ryan Fitzpatrick. Trent Edwards started one more game over the next three seasons and was out of the league by 2012.
ALEX VAN PELT
Played 9 seasons in Buffalo. He started 11 games total, winning 3.
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