14-Time Pro Bowler Spoke Glowingly of Coleman During "Thursday Night Football" Pregame Show
The Buffalo Bills are one of a handful of NFL teams who don’t necessarily have a consensus true No. 1 wide receiver.
Last season, Buffalo had three wideouts with 50 or more targets — Khalil Shakir (100), Keon Coleman (57) and Mack Hollins (50) — and tight end Dalton Kincaid was the second-most targeted pass-catcher on the team (75).
To the surprise of many, despite losing All-Pro WR Stefon Diggs and replacing him with a receiver-by-committee approach, quarterback Josh Allen had an MVP season, passing for 3,731 yards, 28 touchdowns, and six interceptions with a 101.4 passer rating.
Heading into this season, the Bills replaced Hollins with Elijah Moore and Joshua Palmer, but no wideout had really separated themselves as the top option in Buffalo’s offense.
But after an impressive Week 1 performance in Buffalo’s 41-40 win over the Baltimore Ravens, many believe Coleman is emerging as not only the team’s top WR but a true budding star in the league.
Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez is one of them, and during Amazon Prime’s “Thursday Night Football” pregame show, he gave Coleman rave reviews.
“I’m not a big fan of ‘everybody eats,’” Gonzalez said of QBs spreading targets around. “I think ‘everybody eats’ is something you do out of necessity. Josh Allen is not going to have to do this.
“He had to do that the last couple years out of necessity, especially when Stefon Diggs left, now he’s got a bona-fide superstar in Keon Coleman. Keon Coleman is the truth. [He’s] 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, he’s always going to be open. He’s going to jump up and catch the football.
“… He’s going to make a play for these guys, and I think it’s going to happen naturally.”
Coleman had a solid yet uninspiring rookie season.
He finished with just 29 receptions on 57 targets, but he logged 556 yards receiving for a team-high 19.2 yards per reception, which was the third-most among all receivers with 20 or more receptions, per Pro Football Focus.
The Bills drafted Coleman 33rd overall two years ago as the heir apparent to Diggs.