Bills WR Keon Coleman on rookie year: 'You got to be better, simple as that'
Bills WR Keon Coleman on rookie year: 'You got to be better, simple as that'
The Buffalo Bills and receiver Keon Coleman want to see more from the young pass catcher in his second season as a pro.
"You want to know exactly what I see?" Coleman said of his thoughts while looking back at the film from his first year with the team. "You got to be better, simple as that."
In 2024, the team's offense ranked No. 2 in scoring, was top-10 in rushing and passing yards, and yielded an MVP season for quarterback Josh Allen.
Coleman finished second among Bills receivers in passing yards in an efficiency-based distribution offense called by coordinator Joe Brady, yet he realizes he left a lot on the plate in his rookie campaign.
The 33rd overall selection in last year's NFL draft, he showed flashes of his abilities, but also missed four weeks due to injury during the second half of the season and didn't quite bounce back fully to have the potential impact he could have.
He realizes he needs to make the most of his opportunities in this offense when he gets them.
"You gotta be more efficient here. You gotta get out of this break. You got to stack your DB. You got to give Josh more room to throw the ball. You gotta catch that. You gotta make that block. You got to get that extra effort on the touchdown block, so if Jimbo (James Cook) breaks it, he's up the sideline. Just different things like that. Calling out everything that you're doing wrong to make it right."
He's shown improved strength and conditioning going into year two, and looked good on routes and in his connection with Allen during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills at mandatory minicamp, but also had some occasional drops and decision-making mistakes.
Nonetheless, Coleman appears committed to the growth and progression, which is important for the 22-year-old as well as for his quarterback.
'We've had a couple of conversations and he knows that he wants to be better,' MVP Josh Allen said in April, via WGR 550. 'He sent me a couple of long texts of wanting to be better, and we're going to continue to work extremely hard to try to get on the same page. He's got so much ability, he's so athletic, he's already put on some weight and he's gotten a little bit stronger, so I'm excited to see his progression and he's still so young, so he's still got a long ways to go in terms of learning the nuances of the wide receiver position, so I'm so excited for his future because of the ability that he has, it's off the charts.'
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