Bills All-Quarter Century Team Defense
The Buffalo Bills are getting ready for the 2025 NFL season with heavy expectations. This decade, they’ve dominated their division, but haven’t been able to make it to the Super Bowl despite being the team with the second-highest winning percentage in the 2020s. However, not all is bad since the team has certainly come a long way since the infamous playoff drought that spanned 17 seasons. Looking back at that time makes people appreciate the success that the Bills have now, but it brings into question: who are the best Bills players since the beginning of the 21st century? We’ll tackle the defensive side of that today in the Buffalo Bills All-Quarter Century Team Defense. For this team, we’ll be using two edge rushers, two defensive tackles, three inside linebackers, two cornerbacks, and two safeties.
EDGE: Aaron Schobel (2001-09)
Of course, the second-greatest edge rusher in Bills history is making this list. Aaron Schobel led the team in sacks in all but one season; in 2008, Kawika Mitchell and Ryan Denney tied for the team lead with four sacks each when Schobel only played in five games. Showing consistency all around, Schobel notched at least six and a half sacks in every full season he played. Had it not been for his foot injury in ‘08, he would’ve started in 134 consecutive games for the Bills. He currently ranks second in franchise history in both sacks and tackles for loss, a big reason I included him in my “Deserves to Be on the Wall of Fame” series.
EDGE: Mario Williams (2012-15)
Mario Williams in the early to mid-2010s is what the Bills thought Von Miller would be. Anyone who was unlucky enough to watch the team for these years saw that the old adage “defense wins championships” was pushed to its absolute limits. Despite never seeing the playoffs in Buffalo, Williams established himself as one of the best players in the league. The premier pass rusher was selected to the NFL Top 100 from 2013-15—selected as number 72, 29, and 42, respectively—stemming from his three consecutive 10-plus sack seasons. From ‘12-14, the 2006 first-overall pick ranked fourth in the entire NFL in sacks and seventh in tackles for loss and earned two trips to the Pro Bowl as well as a Second-Team All-Pro and First-Team All-Pro selection.
DT: Kyle Williams (2006-18)
The other Williams on this list, Kyle Williams, is a player who Bills fans know and love during his long career here. Most fond memories stem from his live reaction to the Bengals defeating the Ravens and ending the Bills’ 17-season playoff drought, as well as the rushing touchdown he scored in his final season. However, many interior offensive linemen around the league were likely happy to see him retire in 2018. The ex-LSU Tiger developed into one of the best defensive tackles of the 2010s. Here are just a few Bills franchise accolades to keep in mind: first in all-time tackles for loss, second in games played since 2000, third in tackles since 2000, third in sacks since 2000, and fourth in all-time solo tackles. Simply put, it’s hard to tell the story of the Buffalo Bills without Kyle Williams.
DT: Marcell Dareus (2011-17)
Did Marcell Dareus have an easier job due to playing next to two other perennial Pro Bowlers? Sure, but he’s still the best pass-rushing defensive tackle that this team has had this century. With all due respect to Ed Oliver, he’s never led the team in sacks or compiled a 10-sack season like Dareus had. Obviously, when you pick a player third overall, you expect him to be one of the franchise’s greats, but let’s just say the Bills hadn’t been very good at drafting during this time. Luckily, Dareus actually had a respectable career in Buffalo, unlike their last top-five pick up to that point, Mike Williams. Through his first four seasons, he was a game-wrecker on defense, averaging about seven sacks a season with nine tackles for loss and 51 tackles. Going into 2015, he was considered a top-five DT in the league, getting mentioned in the same breath as Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, and Gerald McCoy. Unfortunately, Rex Ryan came and ruined the entire defense in 2015, and Dareus never got back to form, getting traded in 2017 to the Jaguars.
LB: London Fletcher (2002-06)
If I told you that London Fletcher is the all-time solo tackle leader for two different franchises, would you believe me? If you responded “eh, probably,” that’s because you know that Fletcher is known for being a tackle machine. Nowadays, a player putting together multiple seasons with 100 tackles is hard to come by, but how about five straight years with at least 133 tackles? That’s how consistent Fletcher was in Buffalo. This was an easy pick as Fletcher is the consensus middle linebacker that many people would prefer for this team.
LB: Matt Milano (2017-Present)
It’s hard to believe that Matt Milano’s going into his ninth season for the Bills. After getting selected in the fifth round in 2017, he was projected as the sixth linebacker on the depth chart going into training camp. Lorenzo Alexander, Preston Brown, Ramon Humber, Reggie Ragland, and Gerald Hodges were all slated ahead of Milano, but he surprised many people by taking the starting job in the last four weeks of his rookie year. Milano has certainly been an exceptional linebacker in Buffalo, finally getting his flowers in 2022 with his first Pro Bowl selection to go along with a First-Team All-Pro nod. Despite that being his only season as a Pro Bowler, that’s arguably not even his best season. In 2019, he garnered 101 tackles, a career-high, to go along with seven tackles for loss, nine passes defended, as well as one forced fumble and fumble recovery each. Still, it’s possible that he’d have at least four Pro Bowls by now if he’d just stayed healthy throughout his career.
LB: Tremaine Edmunds (2018-22)
In our last linebacker spot, we’re reuniting Milano and Tremaine Edmunds rather than Fletcher and Takeo Spikes, who earned a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2004. Edmunds went under a great deal of scrutiny during his time in Orchard Park, which has a lot to do with him being great as a 21-year-old and never developing into a Bobby Wagner-esque player. However, Edmunds was the most reliable and consistent linebacker that the team had seen since Fletcher. In fact, Fletcher and Edmunds are the only two players in franchise history to have five seasons with at least 100 tackles. Even now, as the team has replaced him with Terrel Bernard, his successor has already missed more games than Edmunds did in his first four seasons in Buffalo.
CB: Tre’Davious White (2017-23, 2025-Present)
The trade down in the 2017 NFL Draft that allowed the Chiefs to get Patrick Mahomes still haunts Bills fans. However, that deal netted the Bills Tre’Davious White, Zay Jones, Dion Dawkins—who made the All-Quarter Century Team Offense—Edmunds, and Siran Neal. Aside from Jones and Neal, all those players had a lasting impact and propelled the Bills to the greatness they’ve experienced this decade. White earned the number one cornerback spot in his rookie season and quickly became a top-10 player at his position. After being runner-up for Defensive Rookie of the Year, White followed it up by getting selected as a First-Team All-Pro just two seasons later. Like some others on this team, he dealt with injuries that derailed his promising career, but that didn't stop him from being an elite player during his prime. The Bills re-signed White for 2025, so only time will tell if he strengthens his legacy with the team going forward.
CB: Nate Clements (2001-06)
If there were an All-Disrespected Team, then Fletcher would be quarterbacking the defense with Nate Clements playing outside. Without even getting into coverage skills, Clements is one of the best cornerbacks of all time at tackling. For reference, Richard Sherman, who was widely regarded as one of the best tackling cornerbacks of his era, averaged 56 tackles per season with the Seahawks. Meanwhile, Clements averaged 74 tackles per year with the Bills while still putting up great stats in coverage. In particular, Clements’ 2002 and 2006 seasons were some of the best statistical cornerback seasons of that decade. In ‘02, the former Ohio State Buckeye intercepted six passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, defended 19 passes, and compiled 65 tackles while being on a top-10 passing defense in yards allowed. In ‘06, he picked off three passes for 80 yards, including a pick six, with 20 passes defended, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and 71 tackles. Clements wasn’t selected for the Pro Bowl for either of those seasons, but he will hold a spot on the All-Quarter Century Team.
S: Jairus Byrd (2009-13)
The final member of that elite 2013 defense is Jairus Byrd, who was selected to that season’s Second-Team All-Pro team after playing in just 11 games. No disrespect to Micah Hyde, but the guy never led the league in interceptions, and he certainly didn’t pick off the ball nine times as a rookie. After looking at all the other players who couldn’t make multiple Pro Bowls after great seasons, it speaks volumes to how sensational Byrd was by getting named to three Pro Bowls in only five seasons with Buffalo. Since 2000, only Clements has more interceptions for the Bills, and Byrd is tied for 10th place on the all-time INTs list for Buffalo. For a team that has struggled to win games in big moments by not being able to turn the ball over, Byrd would have been a game changer in the Bengals game in 2023 or the several Chiefs games that the Bills lost in the playoffs.
S: Jordan Poyer (2017-23)
At strong safety, we have to go with Jordan Poyer, who was as versatile as you could expect a safety to be, and then some. Whether you need him playing 10-15 yards behind the line of scrimmage to protect from the deep pass, need him in the box to play as a hybrid linebacker, or need him blitzing the QB, he’s got you covered. Also, he’s the safety tied with Byrd for the 10th-most picks in team history, with a foothold in many other Bills’ records. Poyer has the second-most solo tackles of all time for the team with 474 while also being fifth in career combined tackles at 682. There were few more reliable players during the Bills’ emergence than Poyer, who played in 107 of a possible 112 games, making him a fitting player for the All-Quarter Century Team.
