It’s been a long time since Josh Allen’s had a stud receiver to throw to. One whole year.
From 2020 to 2023, Stefon Diggs was the alpha in the Bills offense, wrangling anywhere from 9.4 to 10.4 targets per game depending on the season with at least 1,100 yards and eight scores per year.
We’ve seen a receiver do very well with Allen before. We’re going to again.
But it’s a different kind of receiver this time — Diggs was a smaller, shiftier, speedier receiver who drove defenses batty.
Keon Coleman is bigger and stronger … but if there’s anything he proved this summer, it’s that he can be shifty and can use quick feet to help him get open.
Since the end of last season, Coleman’s worked to improve his route-running and agility. It’s paid off in spades this summer, not only in practices ramping up for the season but also in their joint practice against the Bears.
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady told CBS Sports he’s most impressed with how Coleman changed his mind set and worked with more detail, and as a result he’s much more comfortable with what’s being asked of him, and then executing on the field.
“I think any time you’re going into your second year, just that offseason, how critical it is, like just refining your tools,” Brady said of Coleman. “There’s a lot of rookies that have a lot of success, but you go from your (college) season over to combine stuff and you’re just like ‘what is happening?!’ And you finally get an opportunity when that rookie season’s over to kind of sit down and like, hey, this is what we need to improve on, work on. Let’s be intentional about some of the things where sometimes you get rookies, you’re trying to figure out what they can do, what they can handle.
“And so, he’s been intentional about it. … I love where he’s at. He’s working his tail off, and I’m excited for the year to come.”
Brady’s offenses have been geared toward more running since he’s been in charge of the Bills. That might change. Defenses played a high amount of zone coverage against Buffalo last year, and the same is expected as long as Allen is a rushing threat. Finding ways to beat that coverage was paramount for Brady to workshop this offseason. One of the ways: Utilize his big second-year receiver.
Coleman’s rookie year wasn’t grand in production — a wrist injury harpooned the year — but when he faced zone coverage in 2024 he had a 69.6% catch rate and a 34.8% explosive play rate, both dwarfing how he performed against man-to-man (36.4% catch rate, 15.2% explosive rate). It’s a great and logical fit for an offense that knows it will see a lot of zone coverage.
Imagine those rates with more targets. It’ll mean exciting numbers for Coleman and the Bills. It’ll mean a rejuvenated pass game for Buffalo. It’ll mean the Bills will remain one of the most dangerous offenses in football.
And for Allen, who helped the Bills discover Coleman during the lead-up to the 2024 draft, it’ll mean another shot at rebounding to over 4,000 yards passing and 35-plus touchdowns. The kind of numbers he had with Diggs.
“Joe Brady kind of comes from that New Orleans Saints tree with Mike Thomas, and when I was watching Keon on tape, and one thing that our offense didn’t really have was a big-body guy that could go win on a slant, a stop and a fade,” Allen told SiriusXM NFL Radio this summer. “And watching his tape I was like ‘this is the guy that would suit our offense the best.’ This year he’s gotten bigger, he’s gotten a little bit faster, he’s been more aggressive at the point of the catch, running his routes he looks smooth, he looks clean, got a lot of trust in him and he’s a guy that just absolutely loves football, he’s very football smart and I’m very excited to keep growing with him.”
If there’s a catch, it’s that you must be patient with Coleman. The Bills open the year against the Ravens and Jets, two stingy secondaries that could opt to try playing man coverage on Coleman with their top cornerbacks. After those matchups, the Bills will face, by my count, six tough secondaries between Weeks 3 and 17. That’s more than enough for Coleman to break out and become dangerous against anyone.
Coleman’s average draft position across the board is in the 120s. That’s Round 10 or 11. It’s laughable. He’s among the very few players at any position who could outperform that ADP by five-plus rounds. If he and Allen continue to be on the same page, he could very easily become a top-24 receiver.
And that’s why I’m willing to take Coleman as soon as Round 7 (you should be able to snatch him in Round 8 pretty easily). There’s just way too much upside. Way more than youngsters like Matthew Golden or Rome Odunze. More than speedsters like Jordan Addison or Zay Flowers.
And more than even the savviest of veterans like Deebo Samuel, Cooper Kupp and, yep, Stefon Diggs.
This news was originally published on this post .
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