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

[Buffalo ill]

If Keon has a breakout game, I'm sure someone will make a new thread proclaiming him the next big thing.  Said thread will include a cringeworthy tryhard nickname nobody asked for.

[Don Otreply]

Upon further thought, Keons breakout starts today at 1:00 pm vs Miami, 

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Kirby Jackson]

37 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

Upon further thought, Keons breakout starts today at 1:00 pm vs Miami, 

 

GO BILLS!!!

I have a feeling he has a big game today. 6 catches 84 yards and a TD

[dorquemada]

1 hour ago, Buffalo ill said:

If Keon has a breakout game, I'm sure someone will make a new thread proclaiming him the next big thing.  Said thread will include a cringeworthy tryhard nickname nobody asked for.

 

NEON KEON

 

ur welcome

[Buffalo ill]

10 minutes ago, dorquemada said:

 

NEON KEON

 

ur welcome

Or "The Colemanoscopy"

[Johnny Bravo]

On 11/8/2025 at 11:38 AM, Einstein said:

 

A lot.

 

He was explosive and physical. Great run blocker and had good hands. He had an incredible back twisting over the head deep endzone catch his rookie year as well.

 

He was a WR4 in a Todd Collins led offense.

Did the explosiveness and physicality ever result in good plays on the field besides the ones I mentioned?  Frankly, I don’t think anyone can say these traits were obvious because they were hidden on the bench.

 

 I remember the talk being that Moulds was a bust before his breakout in 98.  

 

I think Moulds is the greatest Bills receiver of all time.  With peak Kelly or Josh, Moulds is a HOFer.
 

I also think Keon is a bust-it’s not too early to say that anymore, so my comment wasn’t to argue for patience with him.

[BillsPride12]

I'm going to need to see this type of performance from Keon tomorrow if there's any truth to this 

 

 

[Not at the table Karlos]

6 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

I'm going to need to see this type of performance from Keon tomorrow if there's any truth to this 

 

 

Was that really called a TD at 30 second mark? 

[Guns N' Rosen]

19 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Was that really called a TD at 30 second mark? 

Of COURSE it was 😃

Our beloved BILLS have been getting ref screwed for a VERY long time 

[strive_for_five_guy]

7 minutes ago, Guns N' Rosen said:

Of COURSE it was 😃

Our beloved BILLS have been getting ref screwed for a VERY long time 

Lol what a joke.  As for Moulds v Keon, Keon is going to need to add 10-15 pounds of muscle and shave at least 10-15 points off his 40 time, along with purchasing an alarm clock, before being able to do what Moulds ever did.

[BillsPride12]

36 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Was that really called a TD at 30 second mark? 

Goes to show you how awful officiating has always been 

[finn]

On 11/8/2025 at 11:14 AM, Alphadawg7 said:

PS:  Keon has gotten open a LOT more than people think.  In fact, a lot of our targets have when people have thought "no one is open".  Quite frankly both Brady and Allen have not been great in parts of this season, and a lot of missed opportunities have been left on the field.  Whether it be Allen checked down too soon, Allen had happy feet, Allen took a short safe throw (usually by design), etc.  Doesn't mean Keon is playing well enough, but if we want to get him going, there have been more opportunities there to do so that we have not executed on too. 

A receiver being "open" is not as simple as it appears. It's not enough to "be open" at some point; you have to be open when the quarterback is looking your way. Very often, Allen appears to be looking at Coleman, even waiting for him, then turning to his next read because Coleman is glued to the receiver or not looking back (or both). In those cases, it doesn't help if Coleman breaks free two beats later because Allen has already made his decision. That's why timing and being in synch with your quarterback is so critical. Remember all those back-shoulder throws to Diggs that were virtually impossible to defend? Allen threw half a dozen of them to Coleman early in the season, and I think he caught just one. The other times he wasn't looking back, hadn't made his break, allowed the DB to make the play, or dropped the ball. 

 

The only thing I've seen Coleman to well is climb the ladder for the ball. Throw it way above his head and he'll go get it. Route-running, slants, comeback routes, even jump balls with DBs, he's at best mediocre. Blocks ok, I'll give him that. And sometimes--not usually--he can get open on fire drills.

 

I'm not giving up on him because who knows? But he has an awful lot of work to do.

[MarlinTheMagician]

I think it is still too early to close the book on Keon, but the first several chapters have not been what we hoped.  OP is right that folks had the same view of Moulds, so I will hold out hope into say week 4-5 of year 3.  If we don't see it by then, we ain't gonna.  Lack of professionalism to date is, however, a serious negative indicator. 

[DuckyBoys]

wont say he's a bust because so far he's shown to be exactly what the scouting report said  Moulds was a physical freak who finally lived up to his ceiling  I'm not sure Keon's ceiling is very high to begin with

[JohnBonhamRocks]

Read the thread title and my brain automatically added “… find out next time, on Dragon Ball Z!”

[Orlando Buffalo]

1 hour ago, DuckyBoys said:

wont say he's a bust because so far he's shown to be exactly what the scouting report said  Moulds was a physical freak who finally lived up to his ceiling  I'm not sure Keon's ceiling is very high to begin with

I was coming here to say this, Moulds was one of the best athletes in the NFL, whereas Coleman is not faster than most of them. His ceiling is Anquan Boldin, but Boldin was an elite route runner, which Coleman has not shown at all. I hope he becomes Boldin but have little faith

 

[MJS]

Moulds had talented receivers ahead of him and had to wait his turn. It's not even close to the same situation.

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, finn said:

A receiver being "open" is not as simple as it appears. It's not enough to "be open" at some point; you have to be open when the quarterback is looking your way. Very often, Allen appears to be looking at Coleman, even waiting for him, then turning to his next read because Coleman is glued to the receiver or not looking back (or both). In those cases, it doesn't help if Coleman breaks free two beats later because Allen has already made his decision. That's why timing and being in synch with your quarterback is so critical. Remember all those back-shoulder throws to Diggs that were virtually impossible to defend? Allen threw half a dozen of them to Coleman early in the season, and I think he caught just one. The other times he wasn't looking back, hadn't made his break, allowed the DB to make the play, or dropped the ball. 

 

The only thing I've seen Coleman to well is climb the ladder for the ball. Throw it way above his head and he'll go get it. Route-running, slants, comeback routes, even jump balls with DBs, he's at best mediocre. Blocks ok, I'll give him that. And sometimes--not usually--he can get open on fire drills.

 

I'm not giving up on him because who knows? But he has an awful lot of work to do.

 

This is a fair take and I agree with your core point for sure.  I do still think there are more opportunities to get Keon the ball that we either haven't taken or we just are not using him in a way to do so.  

 

I want to see more slants, comebacks crossers, etc.  I will also say this, many of the passes Allen attempted to get to Keon on those back shoulder throws or "50/50" balls have been poorly thrown and put in places that greatly reduced the chances to complete.  Allen often throws them with the wrong trajectory, puts in a harder to catch spot, or in a place where the defender can easily disrupt or defend.  

 

So if we are going to run those back shoulder or 50/50 balls as often as they have tried to do them, then Allen, Brady, Keon, etc need to study how other tandems do it well and consistently.  Like study Davante Adams both with Rodgers and Stafford for example.  We as a whole have been trying to execute these poorly, and its both issues with Allen, the play design and Keon.  We just do not execute these attempts with any consistency that will raise conversion probability.  And I am not putting it all on Allen, plenty of times Keon also didn't do his part properly too.  But its a collaborative failure between poorly thrown balls, poor play design, and poor execution by Keon.  

[Buffalo Ballin]

Keon has the huge chance to become the guy for us because there is no one else. And he blew a lot of those chances.

 

By the way, Keon is not fast on the field.

[Chicken Boo]

3 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

I'm going to need to see this type of performance from Keon tomorrow if there's any truth to this 

 

 

 

You're more likely to see this from Cooks than Coleman.