Four Greatest First-Round Picks in Buffalo Bills' History Who Changed Everything

Since the organization's inception in 1960, the Buffalo Bills have built a legitimate Mount Rushmore using only first-round draft picks.

While a 1988 second-round running back may have an argument for inclusion in the franchise's most four influential players (after all, Thurman Thomas is one of only three Bills to ever win NFL MVP), there's no disputing the fact that the four first-round selections chosen in this exercise were all generational performers.

The star-studded quartet is comprised of two quarterbacks, one defensive end and one running back. Three of the men are enshrined in Canton while one remains active.

With the 2026 NFL Draft only nine days away, here's a look at the Bills' four best-ever first-round picks, beginning with the most recent. Buffalo is currently scheduled to pick first at No. 26 overall this year.

QB Josh Allen - 2018 (No. 7 overall)

While Allen has yet to reach the Super Bowl, he's been nothing shy of the franchise leader that the Bills hoped they were getting when drafting him at No. 7 overall after trading up the board in 2018.

The soon-to-be 30-year-old Allen's first eight NFL seasons account for an unprecedented stretch, which includes the only MVP award ever won by a Bills' quarterback.

The five-time NFL MVP finalist is the only player in league history to record at least 40 total touchdowns in five consecutive seasons, and he missed making it six in a row by one touchdown in 2025.

Allen has been responsible for more touchdowns than any player in history over the first eight years of a career. Although his record is only 8-7, the field general has been sensational during the postseason, registering 38 total touchdowns and only six interceptions.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen keeps the ball and gets about five yards on the play during first half action at Empower FIeld at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 17, 2026. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

DE Bruce Smith — 1985 (No. 1 overall)

Certainly in the conversation for greatest defensive player of all time, Smith lived up to his No. 1 overall pick status throughout a marvelous career that included 11 All-Pro honors.

Always able to make 80,000 fans bellow "Bruuuuuuuuuuce" on cue, Smith recorded 200 career sacks — still, to this day, more than any player ever. Remarkably, the former Virginia Tech star posted 13 double-digit sack seasons over his 19-year career.

Smith twice won NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors (1990, 1996) and earned 11 Pro Bowl nods as a Bill. His No. 78 was retired by Buffalo in 2016.

Buffalo Bills’ Bruce Smith takes down New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe for a fourth-quarter sack in 1996. | Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

QB Jim Kelly — 1983 (No. 14 overall)

What began as a tenuous relationship between the Bills and a cocky young quarterback ended with Kelly becoming the face of a franchise that reached four consecutive Super Bowls to kick off the 1990s.

A member of the famed 1983 quarterback class that also included Dan Marino, John Elway and Ken O'Brien, Kelly refused to report to Buffalo after being drafted at No. 14 overall. Instead, he spent three years playing for the USFL's Houston Gamblers.

Finally arriving in Buffalo for the 1986 season, Kelly threw for 3,593 yards and 22 touchdowns although the Bills won only four games that year. He went on to make the Pro Bowl in five of the next six seasons. In 1988, the Bills broke through with a 12-win regular season and advanced to the AFC Championship Game.

Kelly finished 101-59 as Buffalo's starter, not including a 9-8 mark in the postseason.

Bills legends Jim Kelly, Andre Reed listen to a video message from former head coach Marc Levy, seen behind Kelly, during a halftime ceremony of the Bills last regular season game at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. | Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

RB O.J. Simpson — 1969 (No. 1 overall)

One of the best ball carriers in the history of the sport, Simpson was the No. 1 overall pick in 1969. After winning the 1968 Heisman Trophy for Southern California, the electrifying running back went on to earn five consecutive All-Pro First Team selections after establishing himself with the Bills.

In 1973, Simpson became the first-ever NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season, achieving the feat in only 14 games. He also became Buffalo's first-ever MVP recipient that year.

Simpson won the NFL rushing title four times as a Bill after twice leading the NCAA in rushing. "The Juice" made the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1985.

OJ Simpson — Nov 7, 1976; Foxboro, MA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson (32) carries the ball against the New England Patriots at Foxboro Stadium. | Dick Raphael-Imagn Images

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