Bills All-Quarter Century Team Offense

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 that today in the Buffalo Bills All-Quarter Century Team. For this team, we’ll be using one quarterback, one running back, three wide receivers, one tight end as well as a left tackle, left guard, center, right guard, and right tackle.

QB: Josh Allen (2018-present)

This selection was never in any doubt. After many excruciating years of inept quarterback play throughout the 2000s and ‘10s, Josh Allen became Buffalo's savior. Allen’s emergence in 2020 as an elite quarterback was something not seen since Jim Kelly brought this team to four Super Bowls in the ‘90s. Allen not only embraced the team but also embraced the community of Buffalo, establishing the Patricia Allen Fund at Oishei Children’s Hospital in the East Side of Buffalo. His MVP last season only furthered him from whatever this team considered to be a quarterback before he was drafted.

RB: Fred Jackson (2006-15)

In a toss-up against LeSean McCoy, Fred Jackson makes the cut simply due to the fact that he’s what most fans would consider a Buffalo Bill for life. While McCoy had three back-to-back-to-back Pro Bowls in Buffalo, he didn’t stay long enough to make an impact as a leader like Jackson did. After being signed to the Bills’ practice squad in 2006, the former Coe College Kohawk started one game through his first two seasons in the organization. He soon became a reliable asset on the team, averaging 1,176 scrimmage yards, six total touchdowns, and 62.5 rushing yards per game from 2009-13. Jackson was first selected as a team captain in 2011 and maintained his role as captain every season until his release in the preseason of 2015. Jackson truly exemplified the City of Buffalo, coming from humble beginnings and having to battle with two top-12 draft picks for playing time, Marshawn Lynch, who was the 12th pick in 2007, and CJ Spiller, who was selected ninth overall in 2010, and overcoming them while embracing the city in the process.

WR: Eric Moulds (1996-2005)

The only other player in franchise history that’s had a better career as a receiver than Eric Moulds is Andre Reed. Moulds was drafted in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft after Bill Brooks, the team’s number-two receiver for the preceding three seasons, left in the offseason. Moulds couldn’t get consistent playing time his first few seasons due to Reed being healthy and Quinn Early playing beside him. Moulds had his breakout season in ‘98, which quickly rolled over into the 2000s, earning two Pro Bowls in 2000 and 2002. Since the dawn of the century, Moulds has led the Bills in both receptions and receiving yards. Considering the quarterback play he dealt with, that is an exceptionally impressive feat.

WR: Stefon Diggs (2020-23)

Many Bills fans are still sour on Stefon Diggs due to his dramatic exit from the team; however, there’s no debating that he was elite during his time in Western New York. After getting traded to the Bills, expectations weren’t high for the then-27-year-old wideout. According to FantasyPros, Diggs’ average draft position in PPR fantasy leagues in 2020 was as the 26th wide receiver off the board and 65th player overall. The ex-Viking went on to prove all doubters wrong, leading the league in receptions and receiving yards in his first season with Allen throwing him the ball. In all four seasons with the Bills, Diggs notched trips to the Pro Bowl as well as 100 receptions and, 1,000-receiving yards campaigns. 

WR: Stevie Johnson (2008-13)

If there were ever a documentary about “The Drought,” there’s no doubt that Stevie Johnson would be interviewed for it. While not the greatest, Johnson might just be the most memorable wide receiver in team history. For the younger readers of this article who can’t fathom anyone being more dramatic than Diggs, just remember that this is the man who dropped a game-winning touchdown in overtime and then took to Twitter to blame God for it. The eccentric San Francisco, California native also became well-known for showing an undershirt that said “Why So Serious?” after scoring a touchdown against the Bengals, whose star receivers Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens were coined “Batman and Robin.” Aside from Diggs, Johnson is the only Bill to have consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons, and he did it three years in a row. Also, Johnson’s elite route running gave him an edge on the competition, notably being one of the few wide receivers who could ever come out on top against Hall of Fame cornerback and division rival Darrelle Revis.

TE: Scott Chandler (2010-14)

It might seem like a surprise not to have Dawson Knox here, considering he could break the franchise’s career receiving yards and touchdowns mark among tight ends this year with 645 yards and three scores, respectively. Nonetheless, Knox never quite became the elite force that he was expected to be. From 2012-14, Scott Chandler was top-three in routes run and total snaps played among all receivers for the Bills, even running the most routes and playing the most snaps among all receivers in ‘13, according to PFF. Chandler’s three-year run is arguably the best out of any TE this century, which is surprising considering he had a different mediocre quarterback throwing to him every season. His 655-yard campaign in 2013 is still, laughably, third on the all-time single-season receiving yards list for tight ends. All of that combined with the fact that he performed a “shoveling the snow” celebration after scoring a touchdown at Ford Field in 2014 makes him worthy of this honor.

LT: Dion Dawkins (2017-present)

You already “Shnow” that the Shnow Man was going to make the list. With four Pro Bowls under his belt now, the former Temple Owl has little competition for the spot at left tackle. Assuming he plays all 17 regular-season games this year, Dion Dawkins will move to 27th all-time in games played for the franchise overall and fifth all-time among offensive linemen for the team. Protecting a franchise quarterback like Allen is a tall task, and Dawkins has been up to the task every year.

LG: Ruben Brown (1995-2003)

Somehow, Ruben Brown has the same number of Pro Bowls since 2000 as Dawkins. Not only that, but he has two Second-Team All-Pro selections in the 21st century to boot. It was no surprise to see Brown on the Bills’ 50th Anniversary Team, considering all of his accolades. After nine seasons with the Bills, he left to play with the Bears. The Bills struggled to find his replacement after his departure and couldn't get a single left guard to start all 16 games in back-to-back years until Derrick Dockery did so in 07-08.

C: Eric Wood (2009-17)

It’s shocking to see that Eric Wood only made one Pro Bowl in his nine-year career in Buffalo. Between 2012-15, Wood started 46 of a possible 48 games at center, proving that the only thing setting him back was injuries. According to PFF, Wood allowed zero sacks in 2013 while playing 1,161 snaps at center, the third-most in the league that season, and still didn’t get selected to the Pro Bowl. Still, he started every game that he was active in, making a start in all 120 games that he played in. He announced after Buffalo’s first playoff game since 1999 that he was retiring from football due to a neck injury. Now he can be heard on the Buffalo Bills Radio Network doing color commentary for Bills games.

RG: Richie Incognito (2009, 2015-17)

Richie Incognito is better known as a left guard for his time with the Bills. During his first stint in 2009, he played all 683 snaps at right guard. At left guard, he notched three Pro Bowls in a row while leading the charge for a top-five rushing attack in the mid-2010s. Incognito played a key role in ending the playoff drought, helping Tyrod Taylor and McCoy play ground and pound football while the defense picked up the scraps on the other end. If he played longer for the Bills, then he might’ve been in consideration for the Wall of Fame by now.

RT: Jason Peters (2004-08)

At this point in time, Jason Peters has to be the pick, considering he made two Second-Team All-Pro teams before being traded to the Eagles, thanks, Russ Brandon. Is Peters better known as a left tackle? Of course, but if we can bend the rules to put Incognito at right guard after one season at the position, then you best believe we’ll do the same for Peters. Peters went undrafted as a tight end until the Bills tested him out at offensive tackle. That ended up being a very smart decision, considering that he became one of the best tackles in the league for about a decade. He only started 55 games for the Bills compared to 148 for the Eagles, but he still managed to make two Pro Bowls before he got shipped out.