By Shivm Mehta
When the Bills took Keon Coleman with the 33rd pick in the 2024 NFL Draft after trading down twice into day two of the draft, many Bills fans had mixed opinions on the Florida State receiver. With his 6’3”, 215 lb stature, many experts labeled him as a high-upside receiver who had the potential to be a deep threat but left a lot to be desired on his college tape. The Bills’ decision to take a receiver with the first pick on day two left many fans questioning why they wouldn’t take Xavier Worthy, the fastest receiver in NFL Combine history; Ricky Pearsall, the ultra-consistent slot receiver from Florida; or even Ladd McConkey, the best receiver on the college team that won the championship twice, instead.
These doubts were amplified after the beginning of Coleman’s rookie campaign. While catching 4 of his first 5 targets in the NFL in his debut, Coleman would only have 12 receptions in the first 6 games and finish the year with 29 receptions for just over 500 yards on the season. In short, Coleman left much to be desired with his performance, oftentimes being left out of the offense entirely or going games with only a handful of catches. He was consistently outshined by the likes of Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid throughout the year. There were a few bright sides to his debut season though, as Bills fans were able to witness Coleman’s deep threat ability with the occasional 30-40 yard catch, and his long frame allowed him to contest corners for tough balls. Yet, with McConkey, Worthy, and Pearsall all thriving with their respective teams in their first year, many started to question the Bills’ decision of drafting Coleman, and the critiques kept on coming.
However, opinions close to the Bills took a big turn this summer. There were countless reports from camp that Coleman had spent enormous amounts of time working on his conditioning, route running, and work ethic. Head coach Sean McDermott even praised Coleman for the exemplary work that he had done in the offseason and warned the NFL about the budding star in his locker room. And this time, Coleman made sure to silence the doubters with an exemplary performance to open the last season in the old Highmark Stadium. With 8 catches and 112 yards along with a touchdown, Coleman helped lead the team to one of the most improbable wins in NFL history, with the Ravens having a 99.1% probability of winning the game in the fourth quarter. His awareness to catch a deflected pass on fourth down to keep the Bills in the game created the spark that fueled one of the biggest Bills comebacks ever. And now this begs the question: Was Coleman really the wrong pick after all?