ESPN Stats and Information has ranked all NFL players drafted in the modern draft (1967-2008) based on their performance during their NFL careers -- regardless of how they fared with the team that drafted them. Insider will count down each team's best draft class (seeded 1-32), then conduct a tournament to determine the best class of all time.
For a short explanation of the ranking system, click here, or, for a more detailed rundown of how the system was developed, click here.
After knocking off No. 2 Dallas, the Bills now take aim at a title against top-ranked Pittsburgh -- Vote now!
BILLS' BEST DRAFT CLASS: 1985
The Buffalo Bills are infamous for their early '90s runs to the Super Bowl. Four consecutive AFC championships is an impressive feat, but nobody remembers four straight Super Bowl trips in a positive light when each one is lost. The Bills found every way possible to lose Super Bowls; they fell on a last-second missed FG and they got blown out, but Buffalo was always resilient enough to make it back the next year.
The Bills built their AFC title teams with solid drafting. Four of the franchise's top six drafts came in the '80s and five of the Bills' top nine draft picks of all time came between 1983 and 1988. These players were the key elements in the early '90s run to four Super Bowls.
Buffalo has drafted five Hall of Fame players, which ties the Bills for the third-highest total with the Raiders and Cowboys. Andre Reed was a Hall of Fame finalist in 2009, but was not inducted, but he would be the sixth Bills draft pick to be inducted if that honor is bestowed upon him in the near future. Two Buffalo draft picks have won an MVP award, making them one of only 10 teams that can say their draft picks have won multiple MVP awards.
The Bills had many tremendous drafts, but ESPN Stats and Information's ranking system says their best draft came in 1985.