Fans and the media alike called out the Buffalo Bills for not going out and getting a prime-time free WR1 either in free agency or the draft. One NFL analyst thinks they may already have that player in the building.
The Bills drafted second-year WR Keon Coleman out of Florida State with the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, anticipating the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder with the 38-inch vertical would come in and contribute immediately to a Bills offense that lost Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis.
Colemanstarted out strong, apexing with a four-catch, 125-yard day against the Tennessee Titans in late October. But the rookie's ascension was curtailed by a nagging wrist injury in early November.
As the Bills approach 2025 with a revamped roster, including the additions of Joshua Palmer, Elijiah Moore and Laviska Shenault Jr. at WR, they'll still need Coleman to make a second-year leap. Ben Solak of ESPN feels that given Coleman's rookie flashes, that level up is on the way.
"The big-bodied, contested-catch expert from Florida State was exactly that for the Bills in his rookie season — a big-play ball winner who saw 39 of his 57 targets against man coverage, " Solak writes," Though he typically wins with physicality, Coleman showed enough wiggle in his routes and surprising shiftiness after the catch such that there's an exciting profile in there. He'll get a bigger route tree and more opportunities in Year 2, and he should continue earning quarterbackJosh Allen's trust."
Coleman's ability to produce like the first player taken in the second round of an NFL draft will be key to the Bills finally reaching the Super Bowl. Josh Allen and Coleman started off strong together. If Coleman can continue to mature and improve as the Bills hope he will, Buffalo will be glad they stuck to their homegrown talent.
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