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The Buffalo Bills will need new wide receivers to step up after the departures of Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, but one analyst warns against relying too heavily on the team’s top rookie to fill the void.
The Bills used their top draft pick — the first pick of the second round — on Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman. Though Coleman was seen as one of the top prospects in a deep receiver class, Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus warned that he does not appear ready to replace Diggs as the team’s No. 1 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 wrote. “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 noted that the trade sending Diggs to the Houston Texans left the Bills with a “glaring hole” at wide receiver, but that may not be an insurmountable challenge. While the Bills shed talent at wide receiver, Monson pointed out that the Kansas City Chiefs proved last season that even a “questionable” wide receiving corps can be good enough to win a Super Bowl.
Monson noted that the Bills have plenty of depth at slot receiver, including the two best returning players in 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 deals. Those two players team with Coleman and Mack Hollins to bring a lot of size and length to a receiver room that skewed smaller with all of their slot options,” Monson wrote.
Monson questioned whether the Bills did enough to surround quarterback Josh Allen with sufficient talent, noting that the team leaned heavily on unproven or underperforming receivers.
“Overall, this is a receiving group that feels completely disjointed as much as it may be lacking in proven quality,” he wrote. “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 got his first on-field action earlier this month at rookie minicamp, where he worked closely with wide receivers coach Adam Henry. As ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg reported, the rookie receiver said his coach is “very hands-on” and noted that the two have been meeting over Zoom to discuss the playbook.
Coleman, who has also been working with Bills legend Andre Reed, added that he was excited to finally get to work on the field.
“That’s probably the best feeling in the world,” Coleman said. “… I’m trying to get better on the football field, learn the playbook and impact the team and try to help [the team] win. That’s really what I’m focused on, what I really care about, so it’s great finally getting back to it.”
