Top 10 Bills Defensive players of all time

[Forward_Lateral]

Here's my list:

Bruuucceeeeee
Talley
Buscuit
Phil Hansen
Butch Byrd
Bryce Paup
Kyle Williams
Ted Washington
Shane Conlan
Terrence McGee

I'm sure I'm wrong on a few.

[Mr. Miyagi]

What, no Avion Black? :lol:

[Mr. Miyagi]

I'd put Fletcher up there too, and maybe Winfield.

[bleve]

Gotta have Mike Stratton, and probably Smerlas

[Forward_Lateral]

It was tough because football-reference doesn't have tackles/pass defended, some other major stats for the older era guys.

I didn't see any of them play, so maybe some of the more veteran fans can help us out.

[Night Train]

McGee...but no Sestak,Stratton or Saimes. The world must have just ended. :up:



Where is the Dudley Meredith love ?

[Forward_Lateral]

I'm 99% sure I meant Winfield and not McGee.

[Mr. Pink]

Bruce
Biscuit
Talley
Smerlas
Stratton
Paup
Booker Edgerson
Butch Byrd
Sestak
Ted Washington

Much harder to come up with a defensive player list than offensive. There are guys who had tremendous impact for the Bills defensively but only a few seasons worth...like Cowart, Spikes, Fletcher, Tom Janik, Wiley, Sam Adams. I was trying to find room for a guy like Steve Freeman in my 10, but couldn't do it, the bulk of the Bills great defensive players have been in the front 7 and I couldn't put Freeman above Byrd or Edgerson.

[OpIv37]

Spikes was the most bad-ass defender we had since Smith but it's hard to put him on the list because he was only here and healthy for 2 seasons.

[Dr. Lecter]

Bruce
Biscuit
Talley
Smerlas
Stratton
Paup
Booker Edgerson
Butch Byrd
Sestak
Ted Washington

Much harder to come up with a defensive player list than offensive. There are guys who had tremendous impact for the Bills defensively but only a few seasons worth...like Cowart, Spikes, Fletcher, Tom Janik, Wiley, Sam Adams. I was trying to find room for a guy like Steve Freeman in my 10, but couldn't do it, the bulk of the Bills great defensive players have been in the front 7 and I couldn't put Freeman above Byrd or Edgerson.
Paup only had three seasons and only one of those was double digit sacks. He really doesn't have the longevity either.

[Mr. Pink]

Paup only had three seasons and only one of those was double digit sacks. He really doesn't have the longevity either.

I dunno why I thought Paup was here longer. I mostly added him because I remembered he had that big season and was thought of, at that time, as the second best FA signing behind Reggie White. Obviously now he and likely Reggie are further down that list with Deion, Brees and Manning being FAs.

You could replace him with Conlan or Saimes then.

I somehow forgot to mention Saimes in my list above.

[sukie]

Shane Nelson... Dammit.

Mario Clark posted 25 Career INT with Buffalo. Dude was fairly solid

[Dr. Lecter]

Eugene Marve was a very good LB for some very, very, very bad teams

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

i would add leads mckelvin, eddie robinson and Ko Simpson to round out my top ten.......

[swiper]

Eugene Marve was a very good LB for some very, very, very bad teams

Marve was a pretty good LB on some bad teams, making him look better than he really was. Just like Merv Krakau.

Besides the obvious difference of race, Marve came from a small school (Saginaw Valley) vs. Krakau who played at Iowa State.

[YardRat]

Bruce Smith
Talley
Biscuit
Mike Stratton
Butch Byrd
George Saimes
Tom Sestak
Fred Smerlas
Robert James
Kyle Williams

[swiper]

What, no Avion Black? :lol:

Avion Black did not play defense grasshopper.

[swiper]

I'd put Fletcher up there too, and maybe Winfield.

Edit for my brain hiccup.

[YardRat]

Uhhh...Winfield was a pretty damn good corner.

[swiper]

No Chris Spielman?

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No Chris Spielman?

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No Chris Spielman?

- - - Updated - - -

No Chris Spielman?

[swiper]

Uhhh...Winfield was a pretty damn good corner.

I'm sorry. You'r right. I had a brain fart. I read Winfield, but my brain saw Whitner. Apologies to my yellow friend.

[Mace]

I'd go with, in no order :

Bruce Smith
Tom Sestak
Mike Stratton
Fred Smerlas
George Saimes
Butch Byrd
Tony Greene
Cornelius Bennett
Robert James
Darryl Talley

[BillsImpossible]

Honorable mentions: Pat Williams, Ted Washington.

[swiper]

Honorable mentions: Pat Williams, Ted Washington.

Both are big fat waste products. Did you forget Sam Adams zoot?

[BillsImpossible]

Both are big fat waste products. Did you forget Sam Adams zoot?

Washington had two really good years with the Bills, and Pat Williams was basically Kyle Williams for the Bills. Great player, one of the most underrated Bills of all time in my humble Bills opinion.

[YardRat]

I'd go with, in no order :

Bruce Smith
Tom Sestak
Mike Stratton
Fred Smerlas
George Saimes
Butch Byrd
Tony Greene
Cornelius Bennett
Robert James
Darryl Talley
Greene is a good one...I thought hard about putting him on my list.

[BillsImpossible]

Erik Flowers and Aaron Maybin....

No?

[Mace]

Greene is a good one...I thought hard about putting him on my list.

I struggled with getting Kyle Williams, Shane Conlan, Ron McDole, Nate Odomes & Henry Jones in there as well.

I went with Greene because he was a steady standout during a 9 year career of largely inadequate defenses. The Bills only broke top 15 in yards allowed 3 times, two of those barely (14th), and it sure had nothing to do with him. Thing that amazes me as well about him, he was notably slight at 170 lbs and only missed 2 games in 9 years. The guy was a rock.

[swiper]

Isiah Robertson?

Phil Villapiano?

No Sherman White or Ben Williams?

No Lucius Sanford?

No Steve Freeman or Jeff Nixon?

Chuck Knox's defense getting no love?

[swiper]

...

[Arm of Harm]

Washington had two really good years with the Bills, and Pat Williams was basically Kyle Williams for the Bills. Great player, one of the most underrated Bills of all time in my humble Bills opinion.


I liked Ted Washington and Pat Williams, because both were part of what was certainly the best Bills defense in my lifetime: the Wade Phillips 3-4 from the late '90s. If anyone here is too young to remember that defense, the Wade Phillips 3-4 defense Denver recently used to win the Super Bowl is the same basic thing we once had.

Offenses had to allocate two offensive linemen to blocking Ted Washington, the NT in that 3-4 defense. That meant it was the remaining 9 of their offensive players against the remaining 10 of our defenders. One of those ten was Bruce Smith! :) Another was Bryce Paup; who played like Lawrence Taylor. Well, for a season anyway. After that Paup got hurt, and never fully recovered from his injury.


Even with consuming two offensive linemen on almost every single play, Washington still had multiple 100+ tackle seasons. I can't think of any other players in the league at that time who would have done a better job at that nose tackle position than the job Ted Washington and Pat Williams did.

[Historian]

Bruce Smith
Tom Sestak
Robert James
Butch Byrd
Sherman White
Daryl Talley
Mike Stratton
Ben Williams
Aaron Schobel
Fred Smerlas