The Buffalo Bills have a proud history as an NFL franchise, but haven’t always made the best draft picks. Here are their five worst in franchise history.
The Buffalo Bills have been playing football in Western New York for the last 56 years. While the Bills have never won a Super Bowl, they did win two AFL Championships before the AFL-NFL merger and went to four straight Super Bowls under Hall of Fame head coach Marv Levy.
However, Buffalo hasn’t made the AFC Playoffs since 1999, the longest such playoff drought in the NFL to date. Part of that struggle has been the inability to find a suitable, long-term replacement for Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly who retired after the 1996 NFL season and missing on some key first round draft picks.
Have the Bills held their own with solid first round draft picks in recent years? Yes, but like every other team in the NFL, Buffalo has more than its fair share of misses with their first round draft picks. While it is key to find value in all rounds of the draft, missing on first round picks time and time again proves to be what ultimately causes franchises to endure perpetual mediocrity.
Though the AFC Playoffs have still managed to evade Western New York in this millennium, Buffalo seems to be on the right track to turn this ship around someday. That being said, here are the five worst first round draft picks that the Bills have made to date.
Next: 5. OT Mike Williams, 2002, No. 4 overall