Everyone in Buffalo admits the 2026 season will be pivotal for Keon Coleman's future. Finally live up to expectations, and the receiver can provide the Bills a dimension to put them over the top. Continue struggling, and he'll find his way out of Western New York.
The third-year wide receiver is coming off a 38-catch, 404-yard, four-touchdown 2025 season in which he was benched for a chunk of the campaign. As part of Coleman's preparation for 2026, he linked up with former Bills receiver Stevie Johnson, who understands the pressure of performing in Buffalo. It was in Johnson's third season that he broke out, generating three consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns from 2010-12.
Coleman and Johnson worked out in the spring at the University of San Diego, and the 23-year-old's demeanor surprised Johnson given all he'd heard and read.
"I thought he was going to be immature. I thought he was going to be, not a student of the game, just a very talented player with God-given skills," Johnson told . "But just right off the bat ... he was locked in, wanting to learn things, open to the constructive criticism. He was asking questions."
The 6-foot-3, 213-pound Coleman said the similarities in his and Johnson's build (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) and mentalities meshed off the bat.
"Similar build players, similar backgrounds when it come[s] to sports we play, how we move, how we see the game," Coleman said of the 39-year-old former wideout. "So, it's like two knuckleheads going at it. A lot of IQ guys that love the game and we could talk ball for hours."
Per Getzenberg, Johnson has shared tips with Coleman to help aid his production, for instance, discussing when to break out of a route early if a CB is playing off to make oneself more available to the QB.
"But this is the game within the game that you have to play," Johnson said. "So, it's a thin line between how I was teaching him and it allows me to have to go more in depth."
Johnson believes Coleman's talent is immense if he can improve the mental aspect of the job. But the veteran didn't set outlandish goals for the third-year pro.
"His average should be at least 60 yards [a game]," Johnson said. "I believe he should go beyond that, but I'm going to say, but if he can get 600-800 yards [for the season], the next year after that is only going to be better. ... The sky's the limit for him."
Averaging 60 yards a game would put Coleman over 1,000 for the season. The Bills would be enamored by that production given the two disappointing campaigns that have started the 2024 second-rounder's career.
