With the specter of Nathan Peterman possibly starting Sunday vs. the Colts (I am assuming it will be Derek Anderson, but still...) it got me thinking about some of the bad quarterbacks the Bills have trotted out over the years. I mean Joe Ferguson is probably the third most accomplished quarterback in our franchise history, and I don't remember him being considered as "good" except for a couple years when we made the playoffs under Chuck Knox. Of course, more recently we've had first-round busts like E.J Manuel and J.P. Losman, as well as journeymen like Kelly Holcomb and Tryod taking snaps. But that doesn't really even begin to scratch the surface if you look back through history.
Granted, there are some who feel that Peterman might be the worst quarterback in NFL history. But, based on my (somewhat limited) research, memories, and general knowledge of the Buffalo Bills, I rate him only the 4th worst quarterback in our history.
I apologize if I offend anyone with this list, as I am sure all these guys played hard, and some of them went on to success in other areas of life (and they were mostly on some pretty bad teams with passing in the league not nearly as advanced as today), but here goes (in reverse order):
10. Mike Tallaferro/M.C. Reynolds: I don't remember either of these guys, so this is based on numbers only. Tallaferro managed to throw 4 interceptions in 33 attempts (a 12% ratio), which is Peterman territory. A veteran of the Pats and Jets, '72 was his last year in league and only year with the Bills. The '61 Bills somehow managed to win two of the three games Reynolds started, while he threw 13 interceptions against 2 TDs. He threw five passes for Oakland in '63 and then was out of the league. (I cheated by listing two here, but I really felt that 11 players deserved to be on this list.)
9. Ed Rutkowski: This is probably not fair to Rutkowski, because he wasn't really a quarterback. He was a pretty good return specialist who also played some receiver and running back. He doesn't even seem to have played QB in college at Notre Dame. But, in 1968 he was pressed into quarterback duties for a very bad Bills team and managed to go 0-3 as a starter and throw 6 INTs vs. 0 TDs. The closest modern comparison I can think of is if Roscoe Parrish (who reportedly was a great high school QB) had started some games for the Bills when he was on the team a few years back.
8. Jeff Tuel: In 2013, Tuel was considered a hot young prospect by the Bills. So hot, in fact, that the Bills kept him as the primary back-up to unproven rookie starter E.J. Manuel. When Manuel went down to an injury against the Browns in week five, the Bills quickly realized Tuel wasn't the answer and elevated Thad Lewis to starter for the next week. For some reason (maybe Lewis got hurt), Tuel started a few weeks later against the Chiefs, was wholly ineffective, and never attempted another NFL pass.
7. Brian Brohm: A hot prospect coming out of Louisville, Brohm was a second-round pick of the Packers in 2008. I remember being excited when the Bills picked him up the next season. In two years, he started two games with the Bills, went 0-2 and threw no touchdowns vs. 5 picks and then was out of the league.
6. Kay Stephenson: Maybe Kay wasn't that bad of a player in his lone year with the Bills, the awful 1968 season, but for some reason, I feel this stint may have helped him get the head coaching job a few years later, when he took a pretty good playoff team built by Chuck Knox, and in two years turned it into a 2-14 squad. As a quarterback, he was 0-3 as a starter and completed 37% of his passes -well, so, he was pretty bad.
5. Al Dorrow: I have no memory of Al Dorrow. All I know is that he went 0-4 as a starter on a 7-6-1 1962 team coached by Lou Saban, completed 40% of his passes and had 2 TD vs. 7 INTs. It was the end of a journeyman career that included him leading the AFL in TDs in its inaugural year, but also throwing a combined 56 picks in 1960-61 as a member of the Titans (later the Jets).
4. Nathan Peterman: I am assuming you've seen him play.
3. Gary Marangi: Marangi took over for Ferguson midway through the 1976 season when Joe went down with an injury. I was only 10 years old, but I remember being hopeful. Ferguson was having a pretty good year and was coming off a great year in 1975, but maybe we didn't give him the credit he deserved because we felt has was riding O.J.'s coattails. The Bills were 2-4 when Ferguson went down, and Marangi was a third-round pick out of Boston College, so we thought maybe he could revive us., Boy, were we wrong. He went 0-7 as a starter and completed 35% of his passes (an incredibly low number even for then), even with O.J. rushing for 1,500 yards and Bob Chandler grabbing 61 receptions, including 10 TDs. Granted, Saban did quit that year shortly before Ferguson got hurt and was replaced by Jim Ringo, of the career 3-20 coaching record, but still. Marangi never played in an other NFL game.
2. Dan Darragh: Darragh started 11 games for the Bills from 1968-70. His record as a starter was 1-11. He completed 43% of this passes and threw 4 TDs vs. 22 INTs. He never played in the NFL again. That's all I know. Maybe the stats lie, but I'm going with the idea that he was pretty bad. He wasn't a good runner either.
1. Tom Flores: Flores gets special treatment due to extenuating circumstances. Yes, he was bad as a Bills quarterback, completing less than 40% of his passes and throwing 9 picks vs. 0 TDs over three years. But, he came to the Bills after a pretty solid season in Oakland, in which he threw 24 TDs. And we got Flores, along with a Pro Bowl receiver named Art Powell, for our back-up QB Daryle Lamonica. How did that trade happen? Well, Al Davis was a smart guy apparently. Because, while Flores and Powell were washed up and the formerly championship contending Bills went into the tank, Lamonica made All-Pro two of the next three years and the Raiders transformed into an AFL/AFC powerhouse - an era that culminated with Flores winning two Super Bows in the early '80s as their coach!
Well, that's it. Quite a litany of incompetence. And people wonder why we think Jim Kelly walks on water.
Granted, there are some who feel that Peterman might be the worst quarterback in NFL history. But, based on my (somewhat limited) research, memories, and general knowledge of the Buffalo Bills, I rate him only the 4th worst quarterback in our history.
I apologize if I offend anyone with this list, as I am sure all these guys played hard, and some of them went on to success in other areas of life (and they were mostly on some pretty bad teams with passing in the league not nearly as advanced as today), but here goes (in reverse order):
10. Mike Tallaferro/M.C. Reynolds: I don't remember either of these guys, so this is based on numbers only. Tallaferro managed to throw 4 interceptions in 33 attempts (a 12% ratio), which is Peterman territory. A veteran of the Pats and Jets, '72 was his last year in league and only year with the Bills. The '61 Bills somehow managed to win two of the three games Reynolds started, while he threw 13 interceptions against 2 TDs. He threw five passes for Oakland in '63 and then was out of the league. (I cheated by listing two here, but I really felt that 11 players deserved to be on this list.)
9. Ed Rutkowski: This is probably not fair to Rutkowski, because he wasn't really a quarterback. He was a pretty good return specialist who also played some receiver and running back. He doesn't even seem to have played QB in college at Notre Dame. But, in 1968 he was pressed into quarterback duties for a very bad Bills team and managed to go 0-3 as a starter and throw 6 INTs vs. 0 TDs. The closest modern comparison I can think of is if Roscoe Parrish (who reportedly was a great high school QB) had started some games for the Bills when he was on the team a few years back.
8. Jeff Tuel: In 2013, Tuel was considered a hot young prospect by the Bills. So hot, in fact, that the Bills kept him as the primary back-up to unproven rookie starter E.J. Manuel. When Manuel went down to an injury against the Browns in week five, the Bills quickly realized Tuel wasn't the answer and elevated Thad Lewis to starter for the next week. For some reason (maybe Lewis got hurt), Tuel started a few weeks later against the Chiefs, was wholly ineffective, and never attempted another NFL pass.
7. Brian Brohm: A hot prospect coming out of Louisville, Brohm was a second-round pick of the Packers in 2008. I remember being excited when the Bills picked him up the next season. In two years, he started two games with the Bills, went 0-2 and threw no touchdowns vs. 5 picks and then was out of the league.
6. Kay Stephenson: Maybe Kay wasn't that bad of a player in his lone year with the Bills, the awful 1968 season, but for some reason, I feel this stint may have helped him get the head coaching job a few years later, when he took a pretty good playoff team built by Chuck Knox, and in two years turned it into a 2-14 squad. As a quarterback, he was 0-3 as a starter and completed 37% of his passes -well, so, he was pretty bad.
5. Al Dorrow: I have no memory of Al Dorrow. All I know is that he went 0-4 as a starter on a 7-6-1 1962 team coached by Lou Saban, completed 40% of his passes and had 2 TD vs. 7 INTs. It was the end of a journeyman career that included him leading the AFL in TDs in its inaugural year, but also throwing a combined 56 picks in 1960-61 as a member of the Titans (later the Jets).
4. Nathan Peterman: I am assuming you've seen him play.
3. Gary Marangi: Marangi took over for Ferguson midway through the 1976 season when Joe went down with an injury. I was only 10 years old, but I remember being hopeful. Ferguson was having a pretty good year and was coming off a great year in 1975, but maybe we didn't give him the credit he deserved because we felt has was riding O.J.'s coattails. The Bills were 2-4 when Ferguson went down, and Marangi was a third-round pick out of Boston College, so we thought maybe he could revive us., Boy, were we wrong. He went 0-7 as a starter and completed 35% of his passes (an incredibly low number even for then), even with O.J. rushing for 1,500 yards and Bob Chandler grabbing 61 receptions, including 10 TDs. Granted, Saban did quit that year shortly before Ferguson got hurt and was replaced by Jim Ringo, of the career 3-20 coaching record, but still. Marangi never played in an other NFL game.
2. Dan Darragh: Darragh started 11 games for the Bills from 1968-70. His record as a starter was 1-11. He completed 43% of this passes and threw 4 TDs vs. 22 INTs. He never played in the NFL again. That's all I know. Maybe the stats lie, but I'm going with the idea that he was pretty bad. He wasn't a good runner either.
1. Tom Flores: Flores gets special treatment due to extenuating circumstances. Yes, he was bad as a Bills quarterback, completing less than 40% of his passes and throwing 9 picks vs. 0 TDs over three years. But, he came to the Bills after a pretty solid season in Oakland, in which he threw 24 TDs. And we got Flores, along with a Pro Bowl receiver named Art Powell, for our back-up QB Daryle Lamonica. How did that trade happen? Well, Al Davis was a smart guy apparently. Because, while Flores and Powell were washed up and the formerly championship contending Bills went into the tank, Lamonica made All-Pro two of the next three years and the Raiders transformed into an AFL/AFC powerhouse - an era that culminated with Flores winning two Super Bows in the early '80s as their coach!
Well, that's it. Quite a litany of incompetence. And people wonder why we think Jim Kelly walks on water.
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