Keon Coleman

[JoeMama]

Coleman will be bust of the year. Too slow to get separation. Struggles vs press coverage. Lacks acceleration. Not a good blocker.

Reeks of Kelvin Benjamin and James Hardy.

[YardRat]

The front office is not stupid, especially after sitting on the pick for a day and I'm sure they watched videos and went over everything again today before the draft.

First, Coleman bring smething to the Bills WR room they don't have. So it is at least a complimentary piece. So say in a game when the opposing team is blanking our smaller but fast receivers - happened often late last year when man coverage seemed to neutralized Diggs, Davis, now we have someone you can throw jump ball too. I don't know it is the best strategy but it is a new avenue for Josh.

Second, he's very much a boom or bust guy. Route running and separation looked to be subpar compared to others in his tier, though short area quickness is superb, thus the comparison to Saints' Mike Williams in the big nickel usage. But I hear another comparison - look at the DHop draft profile. A lot of similarity in terms of size, weight, speed, and jump ball capability, as well as college production. DHop was drafted 1st round 27th overall, not far from Coleman's #33. So Beane and company are hoping for the boom here instead of taking those middle of the road kind of solid category. For the Bills sake, hope this guy refines his route running skills to maximize his physical traits, like DHop did when he came into NFL.

A big difference in a DHop comp is hand size...10" (Diggs also, btw) compared to 9-3/8"

And yes, it makes a difference for WR's and QB's.

[sahlensguy]

A big difference in a DHop comp is hand size...10" (Diggs also, btw) compared to 9-3/8"

And yes, it makes a difference for WR's and QB's.

5/8“ is a big difference?

The favorable comp to DHop is poor, unfortunately. Keon does not get separation down field. DHop, of course did.

Keon compares more to Cooper Kupp. He gets seperation earlier in the route. He could potentially excel in a big slot role. He just hasn't played that role.

[Canadian'eh!]

I’m in record 100 times already.

Coleman will bust. Horrid pick. Literally any other WR would have been better.

[sahlensguy]

I’m in record 100 times already.

Coleman will bust. Horrid pick. Literally any other WR would have been better.

After 100 times, I got it!

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Details on route running to create separation is what going to make him a boom or bust as I said. DHop does not have great speed. But great at the point of separation using his hands and body lean. Brandon Marshall has that famous push and pull technique against press DBs. I saw Steve Smith Sr. had a brerakdown on Coleman and mentioned some great use of hands for separation at times. Everyone is doing it differently. Keon needs develop some consistency and some new ways.

[TacklingDummy]

Lecter (who watches all FSU games) says he's the real deal. Catches everything.

I'm happy we finally got a big body wide receiver to take the ball away from smaller corners, but I still feel we don't have a number one receiver.

4.6 time isn't impressive, but nobody ever said Andre Reed was fast....except for the guys chasing him.

One hole filled.

And it wouldn't surprise me if we took another receiver in the fifth or 6th.

Didn’t Lecter also praise EJ Manuel?

[sahlensguy]

Details on route running to create separation is what going to make him a boom or bust as I said. DHop does not have great speed. But great at the point of separation using his hands and body lean. Brandon Marshall has that famous push and pull technique against press DBs. I saw Steve Smith Sr. had a brerakdown on Coleman and mentioned some great use of hands for separation at times. Everyone is doing it differently. Keon needs develop some consistency and some new ways.

DHop was a down field threat coming out of college. Coleman is not.

They are two different receivers.

If they can mold Keon to his strength - shorter routes, they can have something.

[TacklingDummy]

I doubt it. Allen will spread the ball between Kincaid and Samuel first.

Josh is going to throw to Coleman alot just to make the trading Diggs look even better.

Won’t surprise me Coleman gets 12 TDs this year.

[sukie]

Difference between 4.6 and 4.4 40 times is meaningless in football games. It’s 10ths of a second if one was running a race. Not cutting . Getting a DB to bite on a move then accelerating. It’s that makes the difference. Keon was 1st round on a lot of mocks prior to his 4.6 at the combine. Surely his slowness was on tape when those early mocks came out.

you guys think he’s a sloth. I haven’t seen much tape on him being dragged down from behind … if at all.

[sahlensguy]

Difference between 4.6 and 4.4 40 times is meaningless in football games. It’s 10ths of a second if one was running a race. Not cutting . Getting a DB to bite on a move then accelerating. It’s that makes the difference. Keon was 1st round on a lot of mocks prior to his 4.6 at the combine. Surely his slowness was on tape when those early mocks came out.

you guys think he’s a sloth. I haven’t seen much tape on him being dragged down from behind … if at all.

It's the reports that he creates seperation earlier in his routes, but not later in his routes that is concerning.

[cookie G]

The ESPN group just said it wouldn’t surprise him if Coleman not only will be a day one starter but could be the Bills number one WR!

Well, yeah, he can be penciled in as a day 1 starter. You've got Shakir and Samuel penciled in as the irst 2 and then you have...

um...

Andy Isabella?

Winning the starting job by default doesn't impress me.

The hands/lack of drops is good of course, but if you look at a number of the WRs around this range and they have similar numbers/hands.

Mitchell dropped one ball last year, Ricky Pearsall dropped either 2 or 3. Mitchell, Bryan Thomas and Legette all provide similar, if not the same contested catch ability.

But those guys also provide explosiveness or at least the potential of explosiveness. Its one of the things that made this WR class so special.

SO we drafted a guy who...well, separation isn't a strength.

But tbh, this doesn't surprise me. As good as they are in drafting/singing other gems, esp. DB's...WR isn't a strength for this organization.

There is a reason they gave up a 1st round pick for Diggs...and to this day it makes a wise decision.

Because they weren't getting it done otherwise. they had a history of bringing in guys like Andre Holmes, or trading for ...ugh...Kelvin Benjamin.

and they wren't showing the draft resources or ability to draft one or two. At the time at least, they understood that, so they traded for Diggs.

Later, they got a few guys who filled a role in the mid rounds, like Gabe Davis and Shakir.

They haven't been the smartest guys in the roo in the WR dept, so I don't put much stock in the "X or Y wasn't that hard on Beane's board".

I've got the feeling this will be a what-could-have-been, situation.

[YardRat]

5/8“ is a big difference?

The favorable comp to DHop is poor, unfortunately. Keon does not get separation down field. DHop, of course did.

Keon compares more to Cooper Kupp. He gets seperation earlier in the route. He could potentially excel in a big slot role. He just hasn't played that role.

Yes.

You extrapolate that 5/8" over the entire circumference of the hand from thumb tip to pinkie tip and that adds up to a lot of extra surface area for gripping a ball.

[sahlensguy]

Yes.

You extrapolate that 5/8" over the entire circumference of the hand from thumb tip to pinkie tip and that adds up to a lot of extra surface area for gripping a ball.

Keon has average sized hands for an NFL wr and he doesn't drop anything. Why do you see this part of his game as an issue?

[YardRat]

Keon has average sized hands for an NFL wr and he doesn't drop anything. Why do you see this part of his game as an issue?

I don't think it's an issue on it's own, and can be masked with other skills/attributes. Jefferson's hands are only 9-1/8", for example. I mention it in the context of the comp to DHop. I wouldn't be expecting Coleman to be plucking balls out of the air like he's got glue on his hands like we see DHop and Diggs do, because his hands aren't as big. That's all.

[YardRat]

—Well-built player with a high-cut frame and long stride.

—Attacks jump balls and has tools to win on contested catches

—Has enough speed to take a slant route to the house; will turn on the jets post-catch.

—Strong at the line of scrimmage; uses his frame to keep defenders off the ball.

—21-year-old prospect with a lot of room for development.

—Limited drops on strong hands.

—Reliable red-zone target and outside-the-hashes threat.

There are times when (he) wows you with his hands, production and ability to beat press coverage, and then there are others where you wonder how he'll ever separate in the NFL. He's a project, but he's a high-ceiling player with good hands, good size and enough speed to find a home in an NFL wide receiver corps. —Wins downfield with good body adjustments and awareness.

[sahlensguy]

I don't think it's an issue on it's own, and can be masked with other skills/attributes. Jefferson's hands are only 9-1/8", for example. I mention it in the context of the comp to DHop. I wouldn't be expecting Coleman to be plucking balls out of the air like he's got glue on his hands like we see DHop and Diggs do, because his hands aren't as big. That's all.

Ok.

Keon is longer than Diggs though and a better jumper so I wouldn't bet that.

[YardRat]

Ok.

Keon is longer than Diggs though and a better jumper so I wouldn't bet that.

Keon wingspan 78", Diggs 83". He does have a better vertical by 3", though.

[tomz]

The hands/lack of drops is good of course, but if you look at a number of the WRs around this range and they have similar numbers/hands.

Mitchell dropped one ball last year, Ricky Pearsall dropped either 2 or 3. Mitchell, Bryan Thomas and Legette all provide similar, if not the same contested catch ability.

Actually the knock on most of those guys was that they did NOT show contested catch ability in spite of size. Ball skills matter a lot.

that said, I was really surprised by this particular pick.

[sahlensguy]

Keon wingspan 78", Diggs 83". He does have a better vertical by 3", though.

What?

Says here Diggs' wingspan is 75 3/4"

https://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php...DraftYear=2015