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Best Draft Picks in Buffalo Bills History

The Bills were founded in 1960 as part of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL in 1970 with the AFL-NFL merger. Buffalo has two AFL championships to their credit (1964 and 1965), but have yet to win a Superbowl, despite appearing in the big game four consecutive times from 1990 to 1993. Not surprisingly, we find all three of their greatest draft picks coming from the 90s. Here’s a closer look at Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Jim Kelly. Be sure to check out our latest NFL mock draft for the upcoming season to see who just might be Buffalo’s next great draft pick!

No. 3: Thurman Thomas, RB, (1988 – 1999)

Thomas slipped a bit in the 1988 NFL draft due to a knee injury he suffered during his senior year. The Bills took a chance and selected him 40th overall and reaped the benefits from 1988 to 1999. Over his career, Thomas led the AFC in rushing three times (1990, 1991 and 1993), was named to the Pro Bowl five times, earned an NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award in 1992 and won the AP NFL MVP in 1991. In 12 seasons with Buffalo he amassed an impressive 11,938 rushing yards, 4,341 receiving yards and scored a total of 87 touchdowns. He was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2007.

No. 2: Bruce Smith, DL, (1985 – 1999)

Bruce Smith was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 1985 NFL Draft. Smith is another member of the exceptional team that headed to the Super Bowl on four consecutive occasions, (1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993). The 2009 Hall of Famer is the all-time leader in sacking the QB, with 200 sacks, 171 of them coming in Buffalo. His best sack season was in 1990, with 19 sacks, two short of the NFL record. He was a sack demon and one of the best defensive lineman to ever play the game. With Buffalo, he was selected to 11 Pro Bowls, nine times named first team All-Pro and the Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 and 1996. As a player for the Bills, he amassed 1,078 tackles, 43 forced fumbles and two interceptions.

No. 1: Jim Kelly, QB, (1986 – 1996)

Jim Kelly is easily the greatest quarterback not to have won a Super Bowl. He was drafted by the Bills in the 1983 draft, but went to the rival United States Football League because of the dismal attendance and extremely cold weather in Buffalo. The Bills retained his NFL rights and, when he returned in 1986, he carried the Bills to 5 AFC Championship games and 4 Super Bowl appearances during the period from 1989 to 1995. While he was starting quarterback for the Bills, the franchise made it to the playoffs eight of his 11 seasons. He ran the “K-Gun” no-huddle offense, which was very fast-paced. With the Bills, he had 101 wins and 59 losses, throwing for 237 touchdowns and 35,467 passing yards and a career quarterback rating of 84.4. He was named to four Pro Bowls and inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2002.

The Bills are best remembered for not winning a Super Bowl despite making it to four consecutive games. But the main reason the franchise was in such a position at all is because of Jim Kelly. Jim Kelly is the best player drafted by the Buffalo Bills.

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Week #13 NFL Picks 2011 – 2012 Madden 12