What to look for in Bills offense during Ken Dorsey's debut vs Rams
It's finally here. Buffalo Bills football! When the Bills kick the season off tonight versus the Los Angeles Rams, one of the biggest question marks will be offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. Brian Daboll left the bar high for the 41-year-old coach. Dorsey will have to prove he can be a problem solver now that the […]
It's finally here. Buffalo Bills football!
When the Bills kick the season off tonight versus the Los Angeles Rams, one of the biggest question marks will be offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. Brian Daboll left the bar high for the 41-year-old coach.
Dorsey will have to prove he can be a problem solver now that the offense is his responsibility. That will take time to figure out. In the meantime, here are a few offensive trends Bills Mafia should keep a close eye on versus the Rams.
1. Running into heavy boxes? Not in Buffalo.
As one of the pass-happiest teams in the NFL, it only makes sense that the Bills absolutely refused to run into heavy boxes last year. According to Sports Info Solutions, they were the team to do so the least in the entire league excluding garbage time. The Bills ran into stacked boxes only 14% of the time.
That falls in line with what the Bills do as one of the most aggressive teams in the league. Will that change at all with a new offensive coordinator in place? Ken Dorsey is expected to keep things pretty much the same in 2022, but his pass-run philosophy might just be a little bit less extreme (not that Daboll's run-pass ratio was wrong).
This becomes even more intriguing considering the hype around new offensive line coach Aaron Kramer. The positive work he's done with Spencer Brown, David Quessenberry, and Rodger Saffold has many fans thinking he'll take this unit to the next level.
If he does, do the Bills become more inclined to run the football? We'll find out.
Something else to watch in the run game: Will they add more motion to their run plays? Last year, the Bills' offense featured plenty of motion in the passing game but was near the bottom of the league in motion usage for run plays.
2. Play action for the win.
Despite not being a team that "establishes the run," the Bills had the fourth-highest play action rate in the NFL. And it worked! They had the sixth-highest success rate and were highly efficient with Josh Allen's play fakes. Sorry dinosaurs, I guess establishing the run is indeed overrated.
Will Dorsey avoid that trap as a play-caller? Many coaches in the league refuse to look at the evidence and fail to exploit the efficiency of play action. I'm guessing that won't happen in Buffalo this year but it will be something to monitor.
3. 10 personnel
I gotta tell you, I love watching 10 personnel (one running back, zero tight ends) football. There's something exciting about having four wide receivers on the field. The Bills used it in 8% of their plays, second in the NFL.
Does Dawson Knox's extension change their willingness to take him off the field? This will be a trend to watch throughout the entire season more than just tonight but it's a big question for Dorsey's offense.
Featured image via Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports