Bust or Breakout: Can Keon Coleman make an "Eric Moulds" style great leap forward

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

2 hours ago, 4th&long said:

Moulds actually had talent. 

That’s an unfair assessment. Keon has all the raw talent in the world. 

[PoundingDog]

There is a lot of nuance for Coleman game that he is simply not grasping right now - we don't know if he ever will. Separation is not just speed. Size can be worked for that as well, and it is not just throwing high - there is a time and place for the QB to throw you high ball that you have to master. You don't have that speed, fine; Allen can throw you a back shoulder ball when you are at the right leverage and just cut off your route but you have to think like a QB and know when to do that. If you look back at the films this season, Allen and Coleman tried a lot of those things but not at an acceptable success rate. Only in-breaking routes seem to work for them consistently for 5, 6 yards. And with Bills ball control offense, there is not much in-game experiment they can do.  

[Kornfed]

Played D1 basketball….. exceptional athlete!! ..  What I don’t get, is the inability to separate. How can somebody with his level of athleticism not be able to sell his body language??? …. That’s bottom line. You would think it would come naturally to him. … 

[Bookie Man]

[MPL]

I don't know how anyone watches Coleman play football and thinks, "yeah, that guy runs routes, moves, and catches the ball like an NFL WR." I want to believe he can be something and I hope against hope that he does become something, but man when I watch Keon Coleman make a football move it just doesn't look like a football move.  

[Allen2Moulds]

2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Oh good, a Keon Coleman thread. In all seriousness, not much to discuss, he sucks. It’s been debated on here for a year and a half. The Keon truthers have finally gone silent.
 

He’s not even really a bust. He was like the 8th or 9th WR picked and he was way overdrafted. Keon was an extremely flawed prospect that hasn’t overcome those major holes in his game. 

I agree, feels like he should've been a 4th rounder. Shakir was a better prospect and went in the 5th.

[Ga boy]

2 hours ago, ChicagoRic said:

Um.   

Moulds

1996:  20 catches for 279 yards and 2TD

1997:  29 catches for 294 yards and 0TD

 

Coleman

2024: 29 catches for 556 yards and 4TD.

2025: 29 catches for 284 yards and 2TD so far. 

 

Coleman was showing something and improving before his injury last year. This year feels like a bit of regression. 

 

Dude, I am old.  Love, love, love Moulds.

Somewhat like Tron but maybe not as fast.  A runaway freight train that had that Jerry Rice gait.  Don’t think about arm tackling him.

[Dr. Who]

3 minutes ago, MPL said:

I don't know how anyone watches Coleman play football and thinks, "yeah, that guy runs routes, moves, and catches the ball like an NFL WR." I want to believe he can be something and I hope against hope that he does become something, but man when I watch Keon Coleman make a football move it just doesn't look like a football move.  

The Macy's yellow jacket thing was fun. The actual football career, not so much.

As others have said, I think he'd do better in the slot, but that means taking better players off the field.

It's less on Keon, and more on the arrogant GM who criminally neglects the position.

[Donuts and Doritos]

If Coleman were played as a big slot instead of an outside WR 1, he might have a better chance breaking out. But the Bill's aren't going to do that. So I'm not sure a great leap is coming in Buffalo. But perhaps elsewhere, they'll use his strengths better. 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

If only he had one tenth of the athleticism.

[uticaclub]

Moulds was drafted to develop and eventually replace the aging Reed. Coleman was drafted to be the key player immediately, and teams are much less patient with draft picks now than they were in 1996. 

[DapperCam]

1 hour ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

That’s an unfair assessment. Keon has all the raw talent in the world. 

Moulds was way faster, just as physical and actually knew how to play WR. He just didn't get as many snaps and had some drop issues. Coleman doesn't get any separation.

[NoName]

3 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

The difference is that Moulds had attributes that Coleman simply doesn't or won't be able to have. Moulds wasn't nearly as limited as Coleman is, even when he was a year or two into his career. He just had to put it together and develop. The talent was always there, he just had to gain confidence and cut down on the drops.

 

He may improve from what he is now. But Coleman is never going to be a 4.5 guy like Moulds. He's never going to be as physical and as powerful as Moulds. He's never going to have Moulds' frame. And I doubt he'll ever have the "dog" in him that Moulds had.

Moulds ran a 4.4.

[TheBrownBear]

Moulds was a freak. Unless Coleman goes the Daryl Boston route, I'm not seeing it.

11 minutes ago, DapperCam said:

Moulds was way faster, just as physical and actually knew how to play WR. He just didn't get as many snaps and had some drop issues. Coleman doesn't get any separation.

Moulds is a bigger AJ Brown 

[loyal2dagame]

Eric Moulds is a hall of fame caliber wr. I believe if he had a consistent qb in Buffalo instead of a new qb every 2-3 years he would be in the hof.

 

Coleman may develop into something,  but right now he shouldn't ever be mentioned with Moulds 

[PauleeeWalnuts]

Coleman is just not any good 

[Scott7975]

I think he has some unrealized skills but may be better as a number 2 with a legit number 1 opposite him and a different offense more like Daboll. 

[BillsFanForever19]

1 hour ago, NoName said:

Moulds ran a 4.4.

 

No, he was a 4.5 guy. I remember obsessing over the Pre-Draft stuff on him and Marvin Harrison in 1996, knowing one of them was likely to be ours.

 

He made the most of his 4.5 and was a guy that looked quicker than his timed speed, especially when he'd get in the open field. Unlike Coleman who somehow looks slower than his 4.61.

[BillsFanForever19]

23 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

He was the 6th WR taken actually

 

Nope. He was the 8th WR off the board.

 

Marvin Harrison Jr. (4th to Arizona), Malik Nabers (6th to New York Giants), Rome Odunze (9th to Chicago), Brian Thomas Jr. (23rd to Jacksonville), Xavier Worthy (28th to Kansas City), Ricky Pearsall (31st to San Francisco), and Xavier Legette (32nd to Carolina) all went before him.

Edited 4 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[In Summary]

What team is adjusting their game plan around Coleman? What defense is worried about always putting their top corner on him? Those are thresholds that he's not crossing this year.