The Bills established themselves as yearly Super Bowl contenders over the last two seasons with Josh Allen developing into one of the league’s premier players. It’s no surprise that the offensive mind who was most responsible for Allen’s meteoric rise the last two years was a hot commodity in this year’s coaching cycle. The Giants tabbed former Bills’ OC Brian Daboll to be their fifth head coach in the last eight years, and Buffalo’s passing game coordinator Ken Dorsey nearly followed Daboll to New York to be his offensive coordinator. In the end, the allure of coaching Allen and this loaded Bills’ offense as well as the chance to be a first-time playcaller in Buffalo was just too much for Dorsey to walk away from.
Dorsey has spent most of his professional coaching career working with HC Sean McDermott and GM Brandon Beane, dating back to the start of Dorsey’s career in 2013 with the Panthers. Dorsey and Allen have seen their careers grow together since they started together in 2019, and McDermott has put more and more on their plates with each passing year. The Bills elevated Dorsey to passing game coordinator before the 2021 season and the entire offense isn’t expected to look dramatically different next season as the new leader of the offense. Dorsey is quickly building a strong head-coaching resume at just 40 years old, and he could become a hot commodity if he helps get the Bills over the top in the near future after the Chiefs cut them down in each of the last two postseasons.
The Ken Dorsey File
Age: 40
Playcalling Experience: None
Other Coaching Experience: Bills QBs/passing game coordinator (2021), Bills QBs (2019-20), Panthers QBs (2013-17)
Offensive Coaches Worked Under: Brian Daboll (2019-21), Mike Shula (2013-17)
Notable: Eight-year NFL QB (2003-10), NCAA All-American (2002), BCS champion (2001), 38-2 college record, QB coach for Cam Newton during his 2013 MVP season
Potential Offensive Changes
Buffalo has finished with top-three scoring offenses, top-five total offenses, and top-10 passing offenses in each of the last two seasons. They also promoted Dorsey from within their coaching ranks so the Bills are going with the “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality with their offense this off-season. They hired 32-year-old Joe Brady to take Dorsey’s spot as the team’s quarterbacks coach, and he brings some playcalling experience with him from the last two seasons with the Panthers before Matt Rhule ousted him in early December last year. The Bills will continue to operate as a pass-first team after throwing at the second-highest clip (65%) in all one-score situations last season, which ranked behind only Tom Brady’s Buccaneers.
The Bills brought Aaron Kromer back to be their offensive line coach for a second time after he previously served under Rex Ryan in 2015-16 — previous O-line coach Bobby Johnson followed Daboll to New York. The Bills want to be more two-dimensional in 2022 after they struggled to find their running game for much of last season until they handed the primary backfield duties to Devin Singletary starting in December. The Bills aren’t necessarily looking for more balance next season, but McDermott spoke several times last season about the need for a threat to run the ball, which they finally achieved late in the season with Singletary.
Upgrades
Players about whom we’re feeling more optimistic based on the playcaller changes.
Josh Allen and the Bills’ passing game — It’s tough to upgrade Allen and this passing attack even higher than they already are entering 2022, but promoting Dorsey keeps the green light on for drafting Bills this summer. Allen’s career started to take off with Dorsey joining the Bills’ coaching staff before his second season. Buffalo’s franchise QB was Dorsey’s biggest advocate to become the next offensive coordinator, saying his “career definitely changed” once Dorsey started coaching him in 2019. It’s yet to be seen how Dorsey will handle playcalling duties for the first time, but the unit will at least have continuity from their top-rated offenses from the last two seasons.
Allen is the defending QB1 after averaging 23.7 FPG in 2021, which came a year after he reset Buffalo franchise records for passing yards (4544), passing touchdowns (37), and passer rating (107.2). Dorsey worked with Cam Newton during his 2013 MVP run, and he could potentially direct his second MVP winner this season with Allen entering the year as a +750 co-favorite for the award with Patrick Mahomes. Allen is locked in as the QB1 in fantasy drafts this summer, Stefon Diggs will once again be a second-round pick, and Gabriel Davis and Dawson Knox will be trendy breakout picks with Emmanuel Sanders and potentially Cole Beasley out of the picture.
