2023 Bills Film: Analyzing one of Ken Dorsey’s read-route designs

Breaking down one of Dorsey’s read-route variations for tight ends

The Cleveland Browns brought in former quarterback and Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey to help modify and streamline the team’s offense in 2024.

He’s a master at finding ways to make things easier for not only quarterbacks but the entire offense as a whole. An effortless yet effective way to do so is to allow receivers to get themselves open by giving them the freedom to find “open grass” downfield.

A good example of this ideology and strategy is evident on this play from 2023.

Though multiple receivers have read-routes on this play, tight end Quintin Morris ends up being the target here. Once the ball is snapped he reads the defender over him and uses his movement to determine where he’s going to go.

If the linebacker flows inside to cover the middle of the field, then he would break outside to the boundary. In this case, the linebacker bolts outside to shut down the flat so Morris breaks inside to the open grass that was created by the vacated linebacker.

These read-route variations make life much easier for quarterbacks because it puts more post-snap responsibility on the receivers. Deshaun Watson should benefit greatly from this type of offensive system because he’ll be able to rely on his receivers to get themselves open rather than being schemed open with structured route combinations.

He’s already a quarterback who needs to see open receivers before letting it rip, so this type of offense could be a match made in heaven for his play style and thought process.

Would you like to see Cleveland using read-routes in 2024? Join fellow Browns fans in the comment section below.