Straight Hucklebuck

The topic at hand is Keon Coleman as a prospect, the Bills thought process in selecting him, their decision to play him primarily at the X, his 73% snap count thus far and wonder about his ceiling in the offense going forward. Amari Cooper is on an expiring contract, Mack Hollins is on an expiring 1-year deal, Kahlil Shakir is on his rookie deal for one more year, Curtis Samuel is under contract for 2-more years, and then Coleman. So we can assess how his rookie year has gone so far, and project what it could look like moving forward. WR again looks thin past this Playoff run.

This was always the problem though. Curtis Samuel as we've seen, is completely ineffective (really outside or in the slot). Shakir is not a perimeter WR. Kincaid plays in tighter formations. So all of this was covered from the beginning - there is not a clear path to slot play, and as most mid-season rookie WR gradings - Coleman is used almost exclusively as the X. He can't beat press, he's too freaking slow. The Bills only keep 5 WRs as well, and ditched MVS who functions as an outside stretcher.

The Bills don't invest in WR so you get the commensurate results. You don't put money into the 401 K, don't complain when you go to retire and there is no money.

Okay, this is 2025 though and there are people who do this for a living. They chart every route the guy runs, the separation, the success rate, grades against zone, man and press man. If you're willing to pay for the advanced statistics you can see data. These aren't just opinions pulled from the sky. And on the NFL Scouting Report: "Coleman might lack the athletic traits to be a well-rounded WR2. Instead, keep an eye on him as a big slot receiver who can be a red-zone specialist." Weaknesses Press coverage can blanket his release and catch a ride. Below-average acceleration getting out of breaks and cuts. Could struggle finding separation to avoid excessive contested catches. Needs to play through downfield corners to secure catch space. Maybe Lance Zierlein doesn't know anything either huh oldmanfan because he doesn't know the exact playcall in the huddle. None of this is new.

Watched the video to the end: it's almost as if there are people who do this for a living like Matt Harmon who said the exact same thing before the Draft last year. 🤷‍♂️ And the quotes from the other Executives around the league about having no fear of the Bills perimeter WRs, and ehh Coleman is a guy, lines up with the Houston game where Allen went 9/30 and Mack Hollins was the #1 in that game because there was no Shakir.

Joe Marino said the All-22 tape didn't come out as normal yesterday so I didn't get his breakdown yet, but he said that Coleman was a player he wanted to analyze. Its not disputable that he couldn't separate from Patriots depth corners, except on one drag route. The deep ball to the end zone he was blanketed. Can't pull another Gabe Davis and just bank on him getting better. He had 1 catch in that game before the Poyer hit. So that narrative is off the back of the Titans and Seahawks games in back to back weeks, but the Miami game he had 1 catch before the Poyer shot with 1-minute left in the 4th-Quarter.

ANYBODY seen Caesar? Haven’t heard from him. SEE YA LATER “BIG DOGS OF THE AFC”

Never wear white tops and blue pants again.

I’d probably elevate Clapp and Shavers. Edit: No Shavers, so KJ Hamler instead. Grable and VanDemark at the OTs, Clapp, SVPG, Anderson on the offensive line. Just run a ProSet offense with Morris, Samuel, Hamler and Ray Davis. If you don’t elevate a WR then one of your big four would have to play. There is just enough of a rotation at LB, DL, DB to get by without an elevation.

With Phillips, Jefferson, Johnson, Smoot, Toohill if you want him, all on expiring deals the entire defensive line is needing a rebuild.

You can’t extend this guy. So freaking frustrating, and of course we don’t cross train at MLB so he’s our only viable starter.

What is the case for extending Cooper? The entire Defensive Line is facing a rebuild with numerous DTs facing age and expiring one-year deals. After this season we can revisit the viability of the defensive scheme, available cap space, the in-house contract decisions - Benford, Bernard, Rousseau, in addition to Shakir and Cook coming due after 2025, wouldn’t the Draft be more pragmatic?

Ole' Jason McIntyre lost a lot of his Jets juice after that Week 1 demolition that the 49ers put on them (and them barely squeaking by the Titans in Week 2). Before that he was another Jets media member that was all-in on the Bills decline.

I think a fair approach is to balance McDermott's future with the team with Josh Allen's remaining runway as QB. Team is the #2 seed, the Bills have the two best wins of the regular season (ended Chiefs undefeated year, at Detroit), are scoring 31.8 points per game, and are at the top of the league in turnover differential. At the end of 2025, McDermott will have been here 9-years, Allen will have been here 8-years. Allen will be 29 years old. That's roughly 1/2 of Allen's career and clearly a good chunk of Allen's prime. If the Bills haven't appeared in a Super Bowl by the time Allen is 29/30 you can feel confident that you've given Sean every resource required to win.

I like McDermott has loosened some this year. At the podium he sounds happier, he constantly praises WNY, the fans, the players. He laughs now. He genuinely cares and I think appreciates support this team receives. But I do agree that he’s under pressure to perform in these Playoffs.

Yeah except both their QBs stink.

gosh what a weak call 17-7, looking at 20-7 at halftime and all we can talk about is how good Drake Maye is.

Man you gotta love the incredible noise this New England Patriots fans are making today. Making it really hard for the Chargers out there to make calls at the line. These “diehard” Patriots fans, what a great fan base.

Giants at Bills 2007 I also was at the Browns-Bills blizzard game 8-0 the week before.

Everyone else? He was drafted right where all analysts thought he would be.

Who cares?

Amari is a rental. I hope the Bills let him walk and continue to invest in draft picks.

What is he? What is Worthy right now after 16-games?

With Coleman it’s scattershot IMO. WGR was making the case that Coleman was emerging coming off Seahawks game, and it’s true that he as a sideline catch away from having over 100-yards in that game. But pre-injury against the Dolphins it was 1 catch, 1 catch against the Lions and Patriots on 2 targets. Allen’s pick was a late heave to Coleman in the end zone. There doesn’t seem to be any rhythm of targets for Coleman (or really anyone in this offense other than Shakir). Reception Perception had their rookie report a few weeks ago and they reiterated that Coleman doesn’t separate. Harmon said more often than not the corner rides his hip down the field when he charts all of his routes.

No Harmon wasn’t a Keon Coleman fan because he can’t separate (from man and press) and because of that he had a limited path to production as a big slot. This chart is exactly what Coleman is - can’t separate at all, but is a playmaker with the ball in his hands. Not surprising on that chart is Worthy right next to Wandale Robinson.