After a dominant showing against Detroit, the Bills standout is outshining his draft pedigree and forcing a re-evaluation of the star-studded 2024 class. Has Buffalo found a steal?
Keon Coleman only has two games under his belt in 2026, but he's already putting himself into a pretty interesting conversation with the Buffalo Bills. After Coleman's performance against the Detroit Lions, it has me questioning something that might have sounded ridiculous for months.
Is Coleman actually better than the wide receivers who were taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft?
I know that's a massive question to ask after only two games. It's also probably a little too early to make any definitive statement. But when you look at what Coleman has done and compare it to some of the players selected ahead of him, there is at least an argument to be made.
Coleman finished the Bills' 41-31 win over Detroit with six catches for 63 yards on six targets. More importantly, he stepped up after DJ Moore left the game with an AC joint injury, giving Josh Allen another reliable option in the passing game. He's also been reliable in as a blocker when needed.
So, again I ask, is Coleman better than the receivers taken ahead of him?
The 2024 class featured Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze, Brian Thomas Jr., Xavier Worthy, Ricky Pearsall and Xavier Legette as first-round picks. Ladd McConkey was also selected late in the second round, immediately after Coleman came off the board.
And while there are certainly players from that group who have a strong argument over Coleman, it's becoming harder to dismiss the Bills receiver after the way he's started this season.
Harrison Jr. was the first receiver taken in 2024, and, honestly, I'd take Coleman over him right now. Thomas Jr. continues to struggle to catch the ball, Legette doesn't se much in the way of targets, Ricky Pearsall can't stay on the field, and Malik Nabers, while the likely most talented of the group, is coming off an injury-filled second year and is already banged up this season.
Worthy is probably the strongest counterargument, particularly because of the speed he brings to the Kansas City offense. But outside of him and maybe Odunze, it's difficult to find a player selected ahead of Coleman that I'd take over him right now.
That doesn't mean Coleman has suddenly established himself as the best receiver from the class. Two games simply aren't enough to make that declaration.
But that's what makes the conversation so interesting.
Coleman was the first pick of the second round in 2024, after Buffalo traded back from No. 28. Two years later, he's starting to make a legitimate case that several teams may have let him fall too far.
And if he continues producing alongside Allen, Moore, Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid, this could become a much more serious conversation by the time the season's over
