The Buffalo Bills will need new wide receivers to step up with the losses of Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, but one analyst cautions against putting too much faith on the team’s top rookie to fill the gap.
The Bills selected Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman with their top overall pick, the first in the second round. Though Coleman was regarded as one of the top prospects in a deep receiver class, Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus cautioned that he does not look to be ready to replace Diggs as the team’s primary receiver.
“Coleman is an intriguing prospect, but his profile had a lot of red flags and he would seem to be one of the riskier answers to a team that intends to install him as their X receiver and essentially replace Diggs,” Monson stated. “Coleman has size and exceptional body control and hands — traits that Diggs possesses — but he doesn’t have the route-running chops or ability to separate against man coverage that Diggs does.”
Bills Facing ‘Glaring Hole’ at Wide Receiver
Monson stated that Diggs’ trade to the Houston Texans left the Bills with a “glaring hole” at wide receiver, but this may not be an insurmountable obstacle. While the Bills lost quality at wide receiver, Monson said that the Kansas City Chiefs shown last season that even a “questionable” wide out corps can win a Super Bowl.
Monson stated that the Bills have plenty of depth at slot receiver, including the two best returning players, tight end Dalton Kincaid and wide receiver Khalil Shakir.
Since the draft, the Bills have also signed Chase Claypool and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to one-year contracts.” Monson stated, “Those two players, along with Coleman and Mack Hollins, bring a lot of size and length to a receiver room that skewed smaller with all of their slot options.”
Monson questioned whether the Bills did enough to surround quarterback Josh Allen with adequate skill, pointing out that the club relied primarily on unproven or ineffective receivers.
“Overall, this is a receiving group that feels completely disjointed as much as it may be lacking in proven quality,” he stated. “The Bills seem to have simply thrown a lot of darts at a few different targets in the hope they will connect with at least one of them in each area.”
Keon Coleman Getting to Work
Coleman made his on-field debut earlier this month at rookie minicamp, when he worked closely with wide receivers coach Adam Henry. According to ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg, the rookie receiver described his coach as “very hands-on” and mentioned that the two had been meeting via Zoom to go over the playbook.
Coleman, who has also been working with Bills icon Andre Reed, expressed his excitement to finally get to work on the field.
“That’s probably the best feeling in the world,” Coleman explained. “… I’m aiming to improve on the football field, study the playbook, and make an influence on the team in order to help them win. That’s what I’m actually focused on and care about, so it’s nice to be back to that.”
