How Josh Allen and Ken Dorsey are shaping the next wave of the Bills offense (great article)

[Logic]

I'll post a snippet, but its a bit long. It's a great read, though, so I suggest just checking out the whole thing yourself.


https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/8/2/23288239/buffalo-bills-josh-allen-ken-dorsey-new-offense

 

How Josh Allen and Ken Dorsey Are Shaping the Next Wave of the Bills Offense

The first-year offensive coordinator is trying to craft a system that will keep Buffalo atop a stacked AFC—and he’s working closely with his star quarterback to do it

By Kevin Clark  Aug 2, 2022, 9:12am EDT

 

Quarterbacks fail in the NFL, sure. But more often they are failed. This was the epiphany Bills general manager Brandon Beane had while studying quarterbacks prior to the 2018 draft. Beane scrutinized the careers of former top prospects who made it, along with ones who didn’t, and found that, overwhelmingly, those in stable organizations with more continuity were more successful. “We’d look at ‘Why did this guy fail?’ Well, three head coaches, or two GMs, it’s crazy,” Beane said this week. “Constant turnover, different coordinators every year.”

There is probably a chicken-and-egg conundrum here, in which a bad young passer might get a staff fired and create his own turnover. But even considering that, the evidence was clear: Give a young quarterback the runway to improve, and he usually will. So Beane’s goal ahead of the 2018 draft was simple: Build a steady foundation, then select a quarterback who was good enough to grow on it. Turnover would come eventually, Beane found in his research, but only once the team had won enough that other franchises wanted a piece.

It is obvious now that the Bills accomplished their GM’s objective. Four years later, they are the model for building an organization where a quarterback can thrive. They drafted Josh Allen seventh overall in 2018, constructed an offensive line and skill group capable of supporting him, and gave him a coach who could propel him forward. Brian Daboll, the team’s longtime offensive coordinator, was in Buffalo for the first four years of Allen’s professional career, and together they developed a relationship between play caller and quarterback that was among the best in the NFL—and formed the backbone of one of the great turnarounds in recent NFL history.

All of those pieces allowed Allen, a quarterback as physically gifted as any in the league, to improve more than nearly anyone outside Buffalo thought possible. But now, after Daboll departed for the Giants’ head coaching job last winter, comes the hard part: Replacing part of the foundation that made the franchise a Super Bowl contender and helped Allen become an MVP candidate. It’s one of the most important jobs in football in 2022, and it falls to Ken Dorsey. I went to Western New York last week to find out what happens next...

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Logic

[billybrew1]

“When the team is ready, the QB appears…”

 

It didn’t happen quite that way but it is close….

Step one was build a defense so the QB doesn’t get huge regrets from making a mistake or is afraid to make a mistake.

Nobody ever gets step one….

My greatest regret is that don’t have a better OL…. I know it’s good, but I don’t like our depth… things could get ugly if we sustain injuries there.

My other regret is that this is who I would have drafted this year …

Christian Watson,  Cam Taylor Brit,  Dylan Parham, Terrel Bernard…..

I’m so torn, I love our draft. I love our top pick….

Its just that Watson is a 6’4” burner that might win rookie of the year…. I thought he could be JA’s  WR for life partner….

Just an elite weapon. And I just don’t think the Bills will ever have a shot at a guy like that again… If he went to a big school he would have been a top five pick… I wish we could have fin angled both somehow….

and an OL….

LOL!

I want a perfect team. Is that too much to ask?

[Jauronimo]

Quote

Beane said he was proud of the way Allen preserved his body last year. “He did a better job of taking less hits. That’s really the onus that I’ve put on him,” Beane said. “I don’t ever get on him for an interception. But I’ll get on him for taking an unnecessary hit. I commend him after games when we’re talking about hits or not hits. I commend him for his maturity. In 2020, he tried to run over Kyle Van Noy and somebody else. Don’t do that.”

That's my quarterback.

[Mr. WEO]

"constructed an Offensive line that can support him"?

 

That's still a work in progress (hence all the talk in the piece of the hits Josh takes--not all are downfield).

[Logic]

3 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

"constructed an Offensive line that can support him"?

 

That's still a work in progress (hence all the talk in the piece of the hits Josh takes--not all are downfield).

Agreed.

He DOES have a quality left tackle and center, and it looks like they may have hit on a right tackle. The guards positions have admittedly been revolving doors.

Regardless of the fine details, it's hard to argue with the larger point that the Bills put a system in place to support Allen. Not every aspect of it has been perfect -- the offensive line, as you mentioned, as well as lackluster WR2 production at times from John Brown and Emmanuel Sanders and lackluster running game production at times -- but overall, they surrounded him with enough talent and good coaching that he was able to elevate his game and become a top 5 passer.

It hasn't always been perfect or even pretty, but one need only look at what fellow '18 draftees Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, and Josh Rosen have been through in order to appreciate the stability around Allen.

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Logic

[Mr. WEO]

1 minute ago, Logic said:

Agreed.

He DOES have a quality left tackle and center, and it looks like they may have hit on a right tackle. The guards positions have admittedly been revolving doors.

Regardless of the fine details, it's hard to argue with the larger point that the Bills put a system in place to support Allen. Not every aspect of it has been perfect -- the offensive line, as you mentioned, as well as lackluster WR2 production at times from John Brown and Emmanuel Sanders and lackluster running game production at times -- but overall, they surrounded him with enough talent and good coaching that he was able to elevate his game and become a top 5 passer.

 

 

I agree.  Brown only looked above average by comparison.  Ditto Sanders.  Beasely was a better pickup than either of them.  

 

Now is the season they have to cash in on all this.  SB or bust!

[FireChans]

I'm not sure we know anything about Dorsey as an OC until the games are being played, but I'm hopeful we keep the benches deep.

[hondo in seattle]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

I'll post a snippet, but its a bit long. It's a great read, though, so I suggest just checking out the whole thing yourself.


https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/8/2/23288239/buffalo-bills-josh-allen-ken-dorsey-new-offense
 

It is obvious now that the Bills accomplished their GM’s objective. Four years later, they are the model for building an organization where a quarterback can thrive. They drafted Josh Allen seventh overall in 2018, constructed an offensive line and skill group capable of supporting him, and gave him a coach who could propel him forward...

 

 

I'm sorry... I'm still waiting for this part.  

[Logic]

5 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I'm sorry... I'm still waiting for this part.  

Yeah. Mr WEO mentioned this, too. My response is the same:

 

20 minutes ago, Logic said:

He DOES have a quality left tackle and center, and it looks like they may have hit on a right tackle. The guards positions have admittedly been revolving doors.

Regardless of the fine details, it's hard to argue with the larger point that the Bills put a system in place to support Allen. Not every aspect of it has been perfect -- the offensive line, as you mentioned, as well as lackluster WR2 production at times from John Brown and Emmanuel Sanders and lackluster running game production at times -- but overall, they surrounded him with enough talent and good coaching that he was able to elevate his game and become a top 5 passer.

It hasn't always been perfect or even pretty, but one need only look at what fellow '18 draftees Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, and Josh Rosen have been through in order to appreciate the stability around Allen.

 

 

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

The key word for the Bills offense should be C-O-N-T-I-N-U-I-T-Y

 

I hope we keep much of what worked and don't change too much.

 

I hope Dorsey respects this and doesn't try to change too much by making it "his offense" by ripping out large chunks and replacing it with what he thinks it should be.

 

Tinker a little, but keep it much the same.

[LeGOATski]

2 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I'm sorry... I'm still waiting for this part.  

Hardest thing to do in the league is construct a quality offensive line without paying out the ass

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

3 hours ago, Logic said:

 

I'll post a snippet, but its a bit long. It's a great read, though, so I suggest just checking out the whole thing yourself.

 

I guess our definition of snippet is different 

 

😆 

[Saxum]

29 minutes ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

I guess our definition of snippet is different 

 

😆

 

Well when you do a snip off a mullet you can cut a bit more than when you snip off someone with Moe style haircut.

 

BTW he also did an interview with Steve Tasker and "Brownie" on One Bills Live.

[BuffaloBill]

I am juiced just reading that article.  The Bills rightfully have a great season ahead of them.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

9 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

"constructed an Offensive line that can support him"?

 

That's still a work in progress (hence all the talk in the piece of the hits Josh takes--not all are downfield).

 

They all know how to say real loud; "Run Josh, Run!!"

[Richard Noggin]

Great read. The dive into Dorsey's early work with Cam Newton is especially salient:

 

"Mike Shula, who worked as both QB coach and offensive coordinator for the Panthers and is now a Buffalo assistant, said Dorsey was instrumental in empowering Newton’s voice in the quarterback room. “He was flexible enough to say, ‘Hey, we got a guy here where it’s a little bit of unchartered waters. Let’s see how far we can take this,’” Shula explained. “He pushed the idea of, ‘Hey, let’s listen more to Cam, he’s got a lot of good ideas and it’s not what we’re used to.’ We went back into some of his stuff at Auburn. … The more we listened and the more we put that stuff in, the better we got.”"

 

Also:

 

"Dorsey said Newton “forced me to evaluate and research and do other things to expand your scope of what you can do as an offense.” And Beane and Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who were both in the Panthers organization during the Newton era, saw that innovation daily."

 

Dorsey's promotion feels VERY organic and well-timed. Let's hope it works allows the offense to find more consistency. 

[TampaBillsJunkie]

great article. Thanks for sharing.

[Big Turk]

Great article.

 

My only concern is that Dorsey is not as adept as Daboll at making sure the gameplans have new wrinkles weekly that make it hard for defenses to key in on things.  

 

The offense still is going to good either way but a lot is riding on Dorsey being highly capable and that is yet to be seen.

[BringBackFergy]

14 hours ago, billybrew1 said:

My other regret is that this is who I would have drafted this year …

Christian Watson, I wish we could have fin angled both somehow….

and an OL…

I agree with your post. There’s a few members here who may know how to fin angle that draft. @Gugny @Beerball @Mike in Horseheads

[Spiderweb]

17 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

I agree.  Brown only looked above average by comparison.  Ditto Sanders.  Beasely was a better pickup than either of them.  

 

Now is the season they have to cash in on all this.  SB or bust!

That's a "homer" point of view. While Brown may develop, he was barely adequate last year at best.