Regardless of whether you believe Ken Dorsey was solely responsible for the offensive struggles, something had to change. I recently wrote an article over the weekend asking the question, does it make sense to fire Dorsey mid-season? My thought was it didn't make much sense because the likely replacement had just as much experience as Dorsey but here we are. Dorsey is out and Joe Brady is stepping into the role.
Joe Brady learned a few things from Sean Payton
Brady spent 2017 - 2018 with the New Orleans Saints working under current Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, and many of the nuances and concepts he learned from Payton, he incorporated at LSU. Brady is probably most known for his time at LSU where he worked alongside head coach Ed Orgeron and helped lead the Tigers to a national title. However, what a lot of people may not be aware of is Brady was not the offensive coordinator at LSU. He was the passing game coordinator and receivers coach. He was coordinating a passing game that featured Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Clyde-Edwards Helaire. Brady won the Broyles Award in 2019, which is awarded to the top assistant coach in the country.
Things didn't work out for Brady in Carolina
This led to Brady landing the offensive coordinator job with the Carolina Panthers, joining then-new head coach Matt Rhule. Things didn't go well during those two years, in which the Panthers' offense was ranked 21st and 30th in the league and was ultimately fired before finishing his second season with the Panthers. Not exactly a resounding success. He's also only been an offensive coordinator in 28 games, one fewer than Ken Dorsey. I'm not saying Brady won't be good, but the resume isn't impressive.
Despite his unsuccessful stint with the Panthers, his offenses utilized motion a great deal and operated under center far more than what we've seen from Dorsey. So, we can likely expect to see Josh Allen under center more often than not, which I don't think is a bad thing. Here is another little nugget that I know Bills fans will be excited about. In 2020, the Panthers under Brady were near the bottom of the NFL ranks for running the ball out of shotgun. Have we seen the last of the shotgun draw play? We can only hope.
In the end, I am fine with the firing of Ken Dorsey, not that my opinion matters though. Either way, it simply wasn't working, and a change had to be made. We'll see over time if promoting Brady to the interim offensive coordinator will work and improve things. It may be too late for this season, but the next seven games will be an audition for Brady, as to whether he becomes the permanent coordinator.