NFL analyst explains how Keon Coleman will help boost Bills offense in post-Stefon Diggs era
Keon Coleman has plenty of hopes and expectations on his shoulders. The former Florida State Seminoles wide receiver has joined the defending AFC East champions, Buffalo Bills, as the presumed new WR1 after Stefon Diggs was traded to the Houston Texans.
He joins an offense that includes quarterback Josh Allen; fellow wideouts Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, and Chase Claypool; running back James Cook, and tight ends Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid.
Analyst Cynthia Frelund already believes the 20-year-old will make a massive impact. Speaking on One Bills Live on Monday, she said:
"There was probably a sense that in this organization and what they would like to do meaning, you have to have a guy who's able to handle a fastball because Josh Allen throws the ball really hard. You have to have a guy who's big, physical, has enough cold weather experience to be able to understand the elements... a guy who has a nose for the end zone."
"But he's going to have a chance to be a field stretcher, get on the perimeter and take advantage of the fact that the middle's going to be crowded given that the Bills just have really great tight ends that can also handle the ball," she added.
Keon Coleman could have become a Patriot in 2024 Draft
As it turns out, another team also wanted Keon Coleman in the Draft — the divisional rival New England Patriots.
Mike Reiss, team insider for ESPN, wrote last week that scouting head/unofficial GM Eliot Wolf had offered his counterpart Brandon Beane the 34th overall pick in exchange for the 32nd pick (which the Bills had acquired via trade down with the Chiefs, who would use it on Texas' Xavier Worthy).
The Bills declined, instead trading down with the Carolina Panthers for the 33rd overall pick. The Panthers went with another Xavier in South Carolina's Legette. The next pick turned out to be Keon Coleman.
The Patriots, meanwhile, decided to trade down with the Los Angeles Chargers, who held the 37th overall pick. That pick would turn into Ja'Lynn Polk, formerly of the Washington Huskies. The Chargers, for their part, would use no. 34 on Georgia's Ladd McConkey.