As part of a larger series that will eventually see the top five quarterbacks of every NFL team ranked, ESPN recently released an article that lists the five best signal callers employed by the Buffalo Bills.

The article features separate rankings from ESPN’s Mike Rodak as well as Bills fans, both of which start out with the same player, Jim Kelly, who played with Buffalo from 1986-1996 and threw for over 35,000 yards and 237 touchdowns. Objectively he is the greatest quarterback to ever play in Buffalo.

After Kelly, the rankings begin to differ from one another. Rodak thinks Jack Kemp is the second-greatest quarterback in Bills’ history, followed by fan-favorite Doug Flutie, Joe Ferguson and, perhaps surprisingly, Ryan Fitzpatrick.

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Kemp, Flutie, and Ferguson after Kelly is a solid lineup. Kemp is the only starting quarterback to ever lead Buffalo to a league championship, when it won back-to-back AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965 with Kemp under center. While an argument could be made about Flutie and Ferguson’s positions in the ranking, both undoubtedly deserve a spot on the list. Statistically speaking, Ferguson is the second-greatest quarterback in franchise history, trailing only Kelly in career passing yards. Despite the fact that he played just three seasons in Buffalo, Flutie is one of the most efficient quarterbacks Bills fans have seen. Flutie left Buffalo with a 21-9 record as a starter.

Then there’s Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Does Fitzpatrick deserve to have his name on the same list as players like Kelly, Kemp, and Flutie? That’s debatable. However, is there really any other name that could replace him? Not really.

Fitzpatrick is actually fourth on the list of the team’s all-time leading passers, as the Harvard graduate threw for 11,654 yards and 80 touchdowns throughout his time in Buffalo. Bills fans have a bad memory of Fitzpatrick due to him underperforming after signing a monster contract extension in October of 2011, but that doesn’t change the fact that he wasn’t completely awful for at least a short part of his stint in Buffalo.

One could argue that Drew Bledsoe, Frank Reich or even current starter Tyrod Taylor should take Fitzpatrick’s spot on the list. But their statistics simply don’t match Fitzpatrick’s.

The fan ranking isn’t too surprising. Behind Kelly is Flutie, who is one of the most beloved players in Bills history. There was even a cereal named after the quarterback in the late 1990s that was very popular in the Western New York region. Trailing Flutie are Kemp, Ferguson, and Fitzpatrick.

Overall, both rankings are pretty solid. Yes, calling Fitzpatrick one of the greatest quarterbacks in franchise history is a bit strange, but given that the team has been weak at the position for a staggering 20 years, the conversation could most certainly be had. Hopefully Buffalo will find a quarterback in the near future that will find his way onto this list by the time he calls it a career.