Ken Dorsey's offense

[Inigo Montoya]

Looking at the off season moves that have been made to this point I think there are a couple of things we can assume for Dorsey's offense

 

1.  We will probably see more two tight end sets with OJ Howard and Knox on the field.  Throw Diggs, Gabe, and now Cook out there, and I think Dorsey just created a nightmare for defenses.  I suspect this will overtake 11 personnel as the most common offensive set this year.

 

2.  With the failed run at McKissic, the signing of Duke Johnson, and now the drafting of Cook, I think we are going to see more swing passes, screens, and an overall increase in the involvement of the RBs in the passing game this year.  When the Bills do line up in 11 personnel, if defenses want to play two deep safeties to keep Josh from burning them over the top, they better hope their LBs can tackle because the underneath is going to be wide open and now we have some weapons who can truly exploit it.

 

3.  We have become a faster offense.  With the resigning and likely bigger role for McKenzie, the drafting of Cook, and Marquez Stevenson waiting in the wings, we should see a faster offense.  I hope we finally get to see some of Stevenson on offense this year.  He was buried on the depth chart last year, but with Sanders gone that bumps everyone up one spot on the depth chart.  Beane hasn't gone after one of the burner WRs in the draft so far.  That may be just because of how the draft fell to them, but there is also a possibility that the Bills think they already have their burner on the roster in Stevenson.  I think Crowder is also faster than Beasley and I see a career year for him this year with Josh slinging him the rock.  

 

4.  With the return of Aaron Kromer I think we can expect an improvement in the running game.  The Bills had the #1 rushing attack in the NFL in 2015 and 2016 when Kromer was the O-line coach.  I don't think Buffalo will ever be a run first team as long as Josh is under center, but if we can become more effective in the run game that will pay huge dividends all around for the offense.  The Bills passed the ball 59.2% of the time last season, I expect that number to come down this season.

 

5.  This is related to the point above, an improved running game should also diminish the wear and tear on our franchise QB.  I think called QB runs except for short yardage situations will become few and far between.  Josh will still do Josh things and take off when he sees an opening, but I would be shocked if he is the Bills' leading rusher again this year.

 

6.  This one is more of a guess on my part, but I think the next step in Josh's evolution is being able to completely change the play at the line of scrimmage based on the defensive look on any given play, ala Peyton Manning.  Dorsey is a former QB and I think he will trust Josh with more freedom on the field to make those calls than Daboll did.  We've all seen Josh can make any throw on the field, he is one of the best running QBs in the NFL, I think the next area we see him make a huge leap in is the mental aspect of the game.  This is year five for Josh and I think he is ready to take complete ownership of the offense.

 

7.  This final point is related to the previous one, with the limitless options of running an offense with Howard, Knox, Diggs, Davis, and Cook all on the field at the same time,  I can see the Bills' offense going more up tempo this year.  QBs love the hurry up and Dorsey is a QB at heart.  I think we will see the Bills go no huddle a lot more with Dorsey calling the plays.  It would be a new wrinkle that defenses have to worry about and I think Josh is ready to handle it. 

[Allen2Moulds]

Nice write up, couldn't agree more.

 

I think the piece about his next step with audibles, I'm wondering how much of that we maybe saw in the playoffs. 

[ddaryl]

It does seem like our offense is going to get the Dorsey treatment. They've emphasized pass catching RBs this year.  

 

Hopefully the Kromer effect/off-season acquisitions fixes last year's OL debacle.... 

 

Those are good thoughts...

Edited April 30, 2022 by ddaryl

[fergie's ire]

Yeah, I posted something similar in another thread.  I think we're seeing big hints about what the offense will be and it's really exciting.  Side note: At the end of the year we exposed the Patriots defense and showed speed was their kryptonite.  They were soooooo slow, and I haven't seen them do much to address the problem.  Now we just got faster and the Dolphins are putting together an olympic 4x100 relay team.  Could be rough sledding for New England.

[716er]

I don't know about being in 11 personnel a majority of the year, but the Bills are building an offense that can diversify their gameplan based on each week's opponent and still have the upper edge.

[K D]

Dorsey ran the power I at Miami with a lot of 2 TE sets!  We just need to draft a stud FB today 😄

[glazeduck]

Lack of attention to WR could be a scheme change, could be bad luck, or could be not wanting to put a rookie in a key spot that they may not be ready for...

 

There's still decent deep threats available in FA, and given how the first 3 rounds shook out, guys like Chase Claypool (YES PLEASE, also how awkward was it watching him announce his replacement???), Marquez Calloway, Jalen Raeger, Denzell Mims, Kadarius Toney (doubtful, but worth listing), and Rondale Moore.

 

Definitely feels like we need another weapon...

[SoCal Deek]

I’m just praying that they can score touchdowns from inside the ten yard line. That alone would make Dorsey a vast improvement! 

[TN Bills Fan]

I'm thinking more 2 tight end.  I don't like the fullback on the field when you want to run.  That puts your worst offensive player on the field.

[machine gun kelly]

This is a deep WR class, but these days you can say that every year.  I’m hopeful today.  We could group with a crappy team a bunch of 6th for a much higher pick.

[Motorin']

2 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

Looking at the off season moves that have been made to this point I think there are a couple of things we can assume for Dorsey's offense

 

1.  We will probably see more two tight end sets with OJ Howard and Knox on the field.  Throw Diggs, Gabe, and now Cook out there, and I think Dorsey just created a nightmare for defenses.  I suspect this will overtake 11 personnel as the most common offensive set this year.

 

2.  With the failed run at McKissic, the signing of Duke Johnson, and now the drafting of Cook, I think we are going to see more swing passes, screens, and an overall increase in the involvement of the RBs in the passing game this year.  When the Bills do line up in 11 personnel, if defenses want to play two deep safeties to keep Josh from burning them over the top, they better hope their LBs can tackle because the underneath is going to be wide open and now we have some weapons who can truly exploit it.

 

3.  We have become a faster offense.  With the resigning and likely bigger role for McKenzie, the drafting of Cook, and Marquez Stevenson waiting in the wings, we should see a faster offense.  I hope we finally get to see some of Stevenson on offense this year.  He was buried on the depth chart last year, but with Sanders gone that bumps everyone up one spot on the depth chart.  Beane hasn't gone after one of the burner WRs in the draft so far.  That may be just because of how the draft fell to them, but there is also a possibility that the Bills think they already have their burner on the roster in Stevenson.  I think Crowder is also faster than Beasley and I see a career year for him this year with Josh slinging him the rock.  

 

4.  With the return of Aaron Kromer I think we can expect an improvement in the running game.  The Bills had the #1 rushing attack in the NFL in 2015 and 2016 when Kromer was the O-line coach.  I don't think Buffalo will ever be a run first team as long as Josh is under center, but if we can become more effective in the run game that will pay huge dividends all around for the offense.  The Bills passed the ball 59.2% of the time last season, I expect that number to come down this season.

 

5.  This is related to the point above, an improved running game should also diminish the wear and tear on our franchise QB.  I think called QB runs except for short yardage situations will become few and far between.  Josh will still do Josh things and take off when he sees an opening, but I would be shocked if he is the Bills' leading rusher again this year.

 

6.  This one is more of a guess on my part, but I think the next step in Josh's evolution is being able to completely change the play at the line of scrimmage based on the defensive look on any given play, ala Peyton Manning.  Dorsey is a former QB and I think he will trust Josh with more freedom on the field to make those calls than Daboll did.  We've all seen Josh can make any throw on the field, he is one of the best running QBs in the NFL, I think the next area we see him make a huge leap in is the mental aspect of the game.  This is year five for Josh and I think he is ready to take complete ownership of the offense.

 

7.  This final point is related to the previous one, with the limitless options of running an offense with Howard, Knox, Diggs, Davis, and Cook all on the field at the same time,  I can see the Bills' offense going more up tempo this year.  QBs love the hurry up and Dorsey is a QB at heart.  I think we will see the Bills go no huddle a lot more with Dorsey calling the plays.  It would be a new wrinkle that defenses have to worry about and I think Josh is ready to handle it. 

 

Great post! I won't be surprised if the Bills mine some of the Pats playbook from the Gronk / Hernandez days.

 

Two TE passing attack with Cook out of the backfield could give team a big problem.

 

You going to cover Knox

 or Cook with a LB? You're toast. Going to go nickel against Knox and OJ in to block? Watch Cook (or Josh) take off down field. 

 

[machine gun kelly]

Oh and I Inigo, thank you for such a thoughtful post.  

[Haslett_Stomp]

1 hour ago, SoCal Deek said:

I’m just praying that they can score touchdowns from inside the ten yard line. That alone would make Dorsey a vast improvement! 

 

Also hoping the silly gadget plays in the red zone left with Daboll.

[Rc2catch]

I think we are going to see some much different offense from buffalo and Kansas City this season. 
I really believe they’re adjusting to a more run based and short pass game to counter the deep safeties. Both offenses struggled at times last year not being able to run effectively and not being able to throw deep. 
I think Daboll not calling plays on gameday is a big boost to the offense too. Plenty to be excited for. 
I’ll add I would like to see Buffalo acquire Andy Isabella from Arizona. Just a really low risk dart throw to get some speed and he has some returner experience too. He’ll be cut or traded for basically nothing, we could probably get him for a 6th round pick swap at this point. He could battle it out here with Stevenson and Hodgins or whoever is around for the 6th receiver spot. 
 

Also kudos to the OP, it’s a really good write up 

Edited April 30, 2022 by Rc2catch

[Dablitzkrieg]

[kjack151]

Do we still have Isaiah Hodgins?  I know he's been hurt but I remember reading that he was having a great training camp last year and was consistently getting behind the defense.  I think if he stays healthy and the maturity of Stephenson that we will have a fair amount of speed on offense - usable speed, and not just fast.  What are your thoughts? 

[Desert Bills Fan]

Great post!
we still have WR’s Hodgins, Kumerow, Stevenson and Gentry on the roster too. 

[RobbRiddick]

I'll be happy with Cook becoming a good runner and real threat out of the backfield but it'd be great if he turned out to be a beast and defenses had to spend more time gameplanning for the running game. We've been saying since Josh really took off, imagine this kid with a dominant running game. Just insane when you picture this offense if he finally gets one

[Big Turk]

Add Shakir to the nightmare for opposing defenses...literally endless options on offense now. Can do whatever we want and probably do it well.

 

Add Kromer's ability to coach up the OLine and we are probably much more effective in the run game as well...

 

If Belichick had no answers last year, I think he might just give up this year.

[Don Otreply]

Nice write up Inigo, I believe you have pretty much hit the nail on the head with your thoughts on how the team will operate this upcoming season. We have a lot of pass catchers that can line up from anywhere in just about any formation, it’s gonna be one hell of a year! 
 

Go Bills!!!