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

[DapperCam]

5 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

players don’t usually get drafted in the 1st round unless they have raw talent. i’m not sure people understand when i say RAW talent. Talent that hasn’t been put together and harnessed. That’s Keon. There’s more that goes into athletics than 40 times 

Keon wasn’t drafted in the 1st round, and he was over drafted. Who knows where he goes if we don’t take him.

[Rousseauisnoschmo]

3 hours ago, Dr. Who said:

I am not giving up, either. I don't much like the odds, but it could still work out.

Exactly.

[Rousseauisnoschmo]

6 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

What? Just saying, if you think there’s “hindsight” to most of these thoughts, use the search function. You can go back a long time and find lots, and lots, and lots of posts on the topic from MANY posters. No one is looking back with hindsight like, “I’m really surprised this Keon Coleman thing hasn’t gone well.” 🤣🤣

Yea. Not really just saying. At least own your own post. Arrogant. Condescending. I know. You don't. Typical of some here.

[Comebackkid]

Seems like last year before the injury that Keon was getting some seperation...he put some dudes in a blender at times

 

saying moulds was huge...really moulds was 6'2 210  and keon is 6'3 215.    and ripped as well.

 

plus moulds was in a system designed to throw the ball down the field very effectively,   

no one in our system is eating right now and when they do its usually short yardage.

 

i think keons production is half keon and half play calling.   he does have his strenghts on the field.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

1 hour ago, DapperCam said:

Keon wasn’t drafted in the 1st round, and he was over drafted. Who knows where he goes if we don’t take him.

1st pick of the 2nd round. my bad, smart guy. 

[Kirby Jackson]

18 hours ago, Rousseauisnoschmo said:

Yea. Not really just saying. At least own your own post. Arrogant. Condescending. I know. You don't. Typical of some here.

Sometimes we are right and sometimes we are wrong. Unfortunately, many of us were right about this a long time ago.

 

I’m struggling with why this is still a topic. It felt like we put this to bed a few months ago. Now, we want to revisit if he’s similar to one of the best WRs that the Bills have ever had?? What are we doing here?

 

FWIW, the majority of the Keon blame goes to Beane. Keon is the same player that he was. He has to own some for not getting any better but 80% of it falls to Beane for the idea of Keon. That was not a viable succession plan to Diggs and Gabe. He doubled down this year by pumping him up and avoiding WR in the draft. He added a quality role player in Palmer to replace a role player in Mack. He just had to have a better plan to address the boundary. Instead, he went on the radio talking trash to the morning guys about how right he was. Here we sit, with the exact same flaw that we could all see for 2 years.

Edited 3 hours ago by Kirby Jackson

[hondo in seattle]

If the binary choice is whether Keon is a bust or the next Eric Moulds, sadly I vote bust.  

 

Moulds HOF-type talent was wasted during the drought.  It would have been great to see what we would have done if Moulds (at his peak) was paired with Andre Reed during SB runs of the 90s.  What a duo that would have been!

 

I hope Keon gets better but he'll never come close to Moulds's level.  

[BillsFanForever19]

8 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

I think people are missing the point - the OP wasn't comparing him as a player or even peak as Moulds, he simply used Moulds as an example of someone who started slow and then broke out.  There is all this focus on discussion comparing the two, but that wasn't the point.  

 

And I think *this* is missing the point of what a lot of people are making.

 

Moulds was a 4.5 40 guy at the Combine who was deceptively fast. He was built like a Greek God and had a WR frame while Coleman's body is more like a Basketball player. He was physically dominant against Corners - both at the line and at the point of attack.

 

The reason people make the comparisons are to show that Moulds' issues were things that could be overcome because he was physically gifted and very athletic. He just needed to lock in mentally and get past the yips of drops. 

 

Coleman's main issues aren't fixable things. He'll always be a 4.61 guy who somehow plays even slower than that. He could put on muscle, but he'll still have a lanky frame and that mass would just result in him being even slower. He is physically limited.

 

And that's the point of the comparison. Saying Moulds overcame a slow start so Coleman could too is like saying Josh Allen overcame his issues so Will Levis could too. There's physical gifts that Moulds had that made that possible that Coleman simply doesn't.

Edited 18 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[BillsFanForever19]

2 hours ago, DapperCam said:

Keon wasn’t drafted in the 1st round, and he was over drafted. Who knows where he goes if we don’t take him.

 

I wasn't high on Coleman going into the Draft and I'm not high on him now.

 

But this idea that Coleman was over drafted and would have free falled if we didn't take him is overblown and inaccurate.

 

He went exactly in the area he was expected to go. Had we not taken him, the Patriots would have selected him 4 picks later - if no one jumped ahead of them.

 

In that spot, they Drafted Ja'Lynn Polk who was *truly* overdrafted. He was expected to be a 3rd to 4th Round selection. They reached for Polk there bc he was the next best Outside WR (who didn't have red flags) on the board and bc they missed out on Coleman (who they were high on).

Edited 19 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[Alphadawg7]

8 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

And I think *this* is missing the point of what a lot of people are making.

 

Moulds was a 4.5 40 guy at the Combine who was deceptively fast. He was built like a Greek God and had a WR frame while Coleman's body is more like a Basketball player. He was physically dominant against Corners - both at the line and at the point of attack.

 

The reason people make the comparisons are to show that Moulds' issues were things that could be overcome because he was physically gifted and very athletic. He just needed to lock in mentally and get past the yips of drops. 

 

Coleman's main issues aren't fixable things. He'll always be a 4.61 guy who somehow plays even slower than that. He could put on muscle, but he'll still have a lanky frame and that mass would just result in him being even slower. He is physically limited.

 

And that's the point of the comparison. Saying Moulds overcame a slow start so Coleman could too is like saying Josh Allen overcame his issues so Will Levis could too. There's physical gifts that Moulds had that made that possible that Coleman simply doesn't.

Keon ran a 4.53 at his pro day, other WRs with similar speed have gone on to have great to even elite careers, and Will Levis is a weird example as obviously he could break out too - like guys such as Baker, Darnold, Geno, Gannon, Young, etc did after slow starts, changing teams, etc.  

 

But none of that matters, he was never comparing the two, he was just talking about breaking out after a slow start.  
 

And yes it’s still possible, but I do have concerns of he can here in this offense based on the reasons I already stated.

[folz]

My question is what does Steve Smith have against Keon Coleman? Is it personal?

 

He trashed him before the draft. After week 8 last year (of his rookie season), he put out a similar "hit piece" video to the recent one calling Keon a bust (just 8 weeks into his career). After the Baltimore game week 1 this year, he made sure to put out a quote to tell everyone to "pump the brakes on the Keon Coleman hype train" (because Keon had a good game), and then this most recent video trashing Keon.

 

I mean, I know this is the era of podcasts and everyone has an opinion, but, I have a hard time thinking of another former NFL receiver trashing a young receiver so much and calling him a bust after the first 8 games of his career. I remember breaking down Smith's video last year (didn't even watch the recent one, no reason to), he was trying soooo hard to point out problems that he even talked trash on positive/good plays that Keon made. It seems unusual to me how aggressive he is in his stance. I mean Keon doesn't play for his former team or anything. Their colleges weren't rivals. They grew up in different states. Why does he care so much to continually trash him? If he sucks, he'll find his way out of the league. Why give him so much attention if you think he is trash? He wasn't a high draft pick that everyone is praising. He's a second round receiver trying to find his way. Why does Smith feel the need to go out of his way to tear Keon down?

 

 

All I'll say, in regards to the thread, is that I haven't given up on Keon.

 

 

15 hours ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

I don’t understand why so many Bills fans want to make a hobby out of crapping on our young players as they try to establish their careers.  Most of the featured whipping boys of the recent past have worked out eventually.  

 

Exactly. Back in the day, we understood that some players took longer (2-3 years) to develop. Not every guy is ready to break out as a stud week one of his rookie year.

 

Terrell Bernard, Spencer Brown, Connor McGovern, Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, Cole Bishop

 

Now it's Keon Coleman, DeWayne Carter, TJ Sanders, Landon Jackson, 

 

Do they all work out? No. But have a bit of patience either way, because some of them will.

 

Edited 10 hours ago by folz

[Sojourner]

13 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

1st pick of the 2nd round. my bad, smart guy. 

The first handful of picks, at least to me, are always first round guys given it’s either that bad a team picking or a team trading up/down to catch a guy that “somehow fell/falls out of the first round”. 
 

So yeah, technically by round standards he wasn’t a first rounder. But I’m with you, he was a first rounder. 

Edited 7 hours ago by Sojourner

[Pete]

3 hours ago, folz said:

My question is what does Steve Smith have against Keon Coleman? Is it personal?

 

He trashed him before the draft. After week 8 last year (of his rookie season), he put out a similar "hit piece" video to the recent one calling Keon a bust (just 8 weeks into his career). After the Baltimore game week 1 this year, he made sure to put out a quote to tell everyone to "pump the brakes on the Keon Coleman hype train" (because Keon had a good game), and then this most recent video trashing Keon.

 

I mean, I know this is the era of podcasts and everyone has an opinion, but, I have a hard time thinking of another former NFL receiver trashing a young receiver so much and calling him a bust after the first 8 games of his career. I remember breaking down Smith's video last year (didn't even watch the recent one, no reason to), he was trying soooo hard to point out problems that he even talked trash on positive/good plays that Keon made. It seems unusual to me how aggressive he is in his stance. I mean Keon doesn't play for his former team or anything. Their colleges weren't rivals. They grew up in different states. Why does he care so much to continually trash him? If he sucks, he'll find his way out of the league. Why give him so much attention if you think he is trash? He wasn't a high draft pick that everyone is praising. He's a second round receiver trying to find his way. Why does Smith feel the need to go out of his way to tear Keon down?

 

Because Steve speaks the truth.  You don’t have to be an ex nfl WR to recognize that Keon runs lazy routes.  What happened to the intensity when he blocked the dude out of bounds?  If he gave better effort, me, and others would back off a little. 

[vincec]

On 11/7/2025 at 7:58 PM, ChicagoRic said:

Hindsight is a hell of a thing.  For his first 2 seasons, Moulds was quite the whipping boy on this board back in the day.

 

A few scouting reports:

 

"Fantastic athletic-ability. Deep threat. Tough and will go over the middle. Aggressive performer with decent hands. Great runner after the catch. Needs to improve concentration and routes. “Me first”-type player. Moulds has much better size and potential than Glenn and Harrison, but he is inconsistent and immature. 1st-2nd rounder."

 

"Upside: Big receiver (6-2+), very good athlete for his size, huge vertical and big catch radius, collegiate production showing big-play ability.
Risk: Character/attitude concerns, perhaps not fully polished in technique/route-running, not seen as “complete” receiver at the time, more “high ceiling” than immediate starter."

If you watched the team back then it was obvious that Moulds was a rocket sitting on the launch pad. It was just a matter of time and whether he would have a decent QB to help him showcase his abilities.

Edited 6 hours ago by vincec

[Flipnmi]

20 hours ago, Walking Tall said:

Moulds was fast. Coleman isn’t.

Moulds ran 4.5 at the combine. That's faster than Keon, but I would not call him fast.

 

[artmalibu]

To me is seems the game plan is to use Colman as a blocker rather than a pass catcher.  He jumps and catches the ball good enough that I would like to see a few targets a game using that skill.  

 

I dont think the game plans used are designed to produce awesome passing stats.  I wont complain since the team is #1 in yards per game, and in rushing.  And, currently sitting a 6th in points with half of the teams in front of them have played 1 more game.  

 

In the past we saw WRs come to the Bills and post their best seasons Cole, Diggs for example.  Now we are not seeing that Samuel, Moore, Palmer. What gets my attention the most is that both Samuel and Moore are 4.3 40 guys and it seems like there is no effort to use the speed.  

 

 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

On 11/7/2025 at 7:42 PM, ChicagoRic said:

I remember when Moulds came into the league...his production was frankly brutal.  

 

Although his numbers are better than what Moulds put up in year 1 and 2, Coleman is clearly struggling.  Is it just a matter of "waiting for the penny to drop" to reach greater potential, or is he truly a bust?

 

From what I recall what turned him around was playing some one on on basketball with Flutie and the talks them two had.  Where is he when we need him?

[MDH]

17 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Coleman's main issues aren't fixable things. He'll always be a 4.61 guy who somehow plays even slower than that. He could put on muscle, but he'll still have a lanky frame and that mass would just result in him being even slower. He is physically limited.

 

Coleman’s main issues are absolutely fixable. Speed isn’t his problem- separation is and those aren’t the same things.
 

He STRUGGLES to get off press. That’s not speed, that’s technique. He struggles to get separation at the top of his stem…again, technique, not speed. He can absolutely learn how to get CBs hands off him at the LoS and sink his hips and have less wasted movement on his breaks. He can also learn how to use his hands at the catch point to create late separation. There are plenty of WRs without top end speed who do these things.

 

Now, that being said I hated the pick and he was the last guy I wanted the Bills to target because he was as a project and it was going to take years for him to become what the Bills needed, if he ever did. And here we are.
 

The guy could immediately be a more productive player if they put him in the slot but again, this is why I didn’t want them to draft him - we’re loaded with slot players.

Edited 2 hours ago by MDH

[nosejob]

Two weeks ago Bishop was a wasted pick.  Keon will have a game playing above the rim catching balls making Dhop look like a poser and we'll have to designate a new whipping boy.

In other news, Spector will lead the team with double digit tackles today.

Edited 2 hours ago by nosejob

[FireChans]

18 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Sometimes we are right and sometimes we are wrong. Unfortunately, many of us were right about this a long time ago.

 

I’m struggling with why this is still a topic. It felt like we put this to bed a few months ago. Now, we want to revisit if he’s similar to one of the best WRs that the Bills have ever had?? What are we doing here?

 

FWIW, the majority of the Keon blame goes to Beane. Keon is the same player that he was. He has to own some for not getting any better but 80% of it falls to Beane for the idea of Keon. That was not a viable succession plan to Diggs and Gabe. He doubled down this year by pumping him up and avoiding WR in the draft. He added a quality role player in Palmer to replace a role player in Mack. He just had to have a better plan to address the boundary. Instead, he went on the radio talking trash to the morning guys about how right he was. Here we sit, with the exact same flaw that we could all see for 2 years.

100%
 

Keon sucks. But he didn’t ask to be the savior for a bad WR group.