Bills shake up special teams with two top WRs in return roles

Two of Josh Allen's top receivers are trying to find more ways to help the Buffalo Bills.

Batavia Daily News sports reporter Mike Rose shared a video Friday of starting wide receivers Keon Coleman and Khalil Shakir returning punts from the jug machines. It may be early on here in Bills' camp, but it's become a trend, as Rose shared that the two have done so over the past two days out of the team's first three at St. John Fisher University.

While it may be unfamiliar for those in Bills Mafia seeing them back deep, this would be a return to returning for the up-and-coming wideouts.

Shakir has experience returning in the NFL from 2024, as he stepped in for return specialist Brandon Codrington throughout the playoffs. Across his first two seasons in the league, Shakir totaled 14 kick and punt returns for 192 combined yards.

While playing for Boise State, he posted 23 career kick returns and seven punt returns in his three-year tenure.

Coleman being back there could be intriguing. While he did not return any kicks throughout his rookie season, he was a highly productive return man in college.

While at Florida State in 2023, Coleman made a name for himself as a punt returner, taking back 25 punts for 300 yards. In fact, Coleman was named a first-team All-ACC selection as a returner, in addition to being a first-team All-ACC pick as a wide receiver.

So, of course, it looks like both return spots are Codrington's to lose. And maybe Bills' head coach Sean McDermott would prefer a reserve player like Codrington or Laviska Shenault Jr. to take on that role.

But if he is looking to mix things up, Coleman and Shakir look like viable options to replace him.

Buffalo Bills' wide receiver Khalil Shakir. / Tina MacIntyre-Yee /Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK