The 5 Most Underrated Players in Buffalo Bills History

Throughout the history of the Buffalo Bills, fans have seen players who have made big plays in the short and long term. We have also seen Buffalo players become huge successes whether they were drafted, signed or traded by the Bills. It is all part of the business and that is what makes it interesting. Bills Mafia has been fortunate to witness the greatness of many players over the years. Whether you were able to see their four-year Super Bowl run from 1990-93, or what they have been able to do over the last four seasons as well. Even during their long playoff drought, there were plenty of valuable players who never experienced playoff success, let alone a division title.

On every NFL team, there are underrated players in history. Players who gave their all and were fan favorites. Fans of every generation have seen greatness in remarkable players, as well as underrated players. We take a look at the five most underrated Bills players in Buffalo history and see what they did for Buffalo during their time with the Bills.

The Bills have had many viable running backs in their careers who have established a running game in Buffalo. Especially when the winter months roll around, running backs play a key role in a team’s success. Running back Fred Jackson was adored by the Bills mob, and still is to this day. The former captain played for the Bills for eight seasons from 2007-2014 and played his final season of his career with the Seattle Seahawks in 2015. Jackson rushed for 5,746 yards and 30 touchdowns while adding 2,897 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns.

Jackson only rushed for over 1,000 yards once in 2009, but managed to rush for over four yards per carry throughout his career. He was teammates with players like Marshawn Lynch and CJ Spiller who made the Bills a team that long prioritized the run. The business side of the NFL began to develop in 2015 when the Bills traded LeSean McCoy and that led to the Bills releasing the fan favorite in Jackson.

The Bills’ all-time great center and offensive lineman is none other than Kent Hull, who was part of the Jim Kelly/Marv Levy era in Buffalo. Hull was a longtime starter for the Bills and was part of an offense that helped the Bills reach four consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s. From 1988 to 1991, Hull earned three Pro Bowl honors, two second-team All-Pro honors, and two first-team All-Pro honors.

It goes without saying that Hull was the anchor of the offensive line that helped elevate an offense that had Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed making the plays on the ground and through the air.

That’s right, Tyrod Taylor is on this list. Until the Bills brought Taylor to Buffalo, Bills fans were in dire straits during the playoff drought of the early 2010s. The team used several quarterbacks who never managed to get the Bills over the hump. Those quarterbacks included Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick, EJ Manuel, and Kyle Orton. Taylor was signed by the Bills in the 2015 offseason and won the starting job in Buffalo and eventually earned a trip to the Pro Bowl while throwing for over 3,000 yards, 20 touchdowns, and just 6 interceptions.

While Taylor controlled the offense, he was never one to take risks. He played it safe and, while he made smart plays, he was never able to capitalize on big opportunities that put the Bills on top on multiple occasions. However, he will always be remembered as the quarterback who helped end Buffalo’s playoff drought in 2017, when the Bills cruised to the playoffs as the AFC’s last seed.

Despite the end of events between Taylor and Buffalo, he brought joy back to Buffalo and its fans. A joy that was picked up by Josh Allen in 2018 and continues to this day.

When you hear the word “consistency,” you have to mention defensive end Aaron Schobel. Schobel only played in the league for nine seasons (all with the Bills), and he played in every game except 2008 in eight of those seasons. Schobel finished his career with 483 total tackles, 78 sacks, 8 fumble recoveries, 3 interceptions, 31 pass deflections, and 21 forced fumbles. That’s more than astonishing in such a short career. Aside from 2008 due to injury, Schobel never had fewer than 6.5 sacks in a season and racked up double-digit sacks in four seasons, including his final season in Buffalo.

He was one of many players who never found playoff success with the Bills, but he was a fun player to watch.

In just four seasons with the Bills, James Lofton played a significant role for Buffalo. During their four-year tenure in the early 1990s, Lofton was a great complementary player to an offense that featured Reed and Thomas in the same offense. In four seasons with the Bills, Lofton rushed for 2,736 yards and 21 touchdowns and was invited to the Pro Bowl in 1991. Lofton’s greatest success came with the Green Bay Packers early in his career, where he was a Pro Bowl honoree in all but two of his seasons with the Packers. Additionally, Lofton was also a three-time Second Team All-Pro honoree as well as a one-time First Team All-Pro honoree.

For the Bills, Lofton played a crucial role that allowed other weapons on offense to succeed, but Lofton still managed to find success himself.