What are the Bills getting with Corey Coleman? On the one hand, he was the first receiver drafted in 2016. On the other, the Browns were happy to get rid of him after only two years.
There have been brief flurries of potential on the field. He caught 5 passes for 104 yards and 2 TDs in his first home game (against the Ravens in 2016). He also scored in the home opener against Pittsburgh last year.
I remember him catching a couple of downfield balls in the preseason at Tampa Bay last year and thinking he looked like he was for real. If you go back and watch his work at Baylor, it looks like he might develop into another Steve Smith. He’s a smaller guy, but he ran a 4.37 when he was coming out, making him seem like possibly another Brandin Cooks.
But two years in a row Coleman has broken his hand during the regular season, contributing to him missing 13 games. And when he’s been on the field, too often he’s come up short (never more so than with his drop in the final 2 minutes at Pittsburgh that sealed an 0-16 season).
To me, most troubling is the reality that when the Browns decided to get rid of him, none of the league’s other 31 teams had much interest in taking him on. The Bills gave up only a seventh-round pick, which is essentially nothing. You would figure that with Coleman having had some injuries and been stuck on some bad teams, some other team would have been willing to give up something like a fourth-round pick, hoping a change in scenery would spark his career.
Historically, when a receiver doesn’t do much early in his career, that’s not a good indicator. In this century, 29 wide receivers selected in the first round have finished with under 1,000 total yards in their first two seasons (combined). Only three of those receivers then went on to have great careers (Demaryius Thomas, Roddy White and Santana Moss). Nelson Agholor may have turned things around, and it’s too early to definitely write off Josh Doctson, but the rest of that group looks pretty bleak.
| UNDER 1,000 YARDS IN FIRST TWO SEASONS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| 2003 | Bryant Johnson, Ariz. | 84 | 975 | 11.6 | 2 |
| 2005 | • Roddy White, Atl. | 59 | 952 | 16.1 | 3 |
| 2013 | Cordarrelle Patterson, Min. | 78 | 853 | 10.9 | 11 |
| 2000 | Travis Taylor, Balt. | 70 | 836 | 11.9 | 6 |
| 2010 | • Demaryius Thomas, Den. | 54 | 834 | 15.4 | 6 |
| 2005 | Troy Williamson, Minn. | 61 | 827 | 13.6 | 2 |
| 2015 | Phillip Dorsett, Ind. | 51 | 753 | 14.8 | 3 |
| 2016 | Corey Coleman, Clev. | 56 | 718 | 12.8 | 5 |
| 2004 | Reggie Williams, Jac. | 62 | 713 | 11.5 | 1 |
| 2000 | Sylvester Morris, K.C. | 48 | 678 | 14.1 | 3 |
| 2013 | Tavon Austin, St.L. | 71 | 660 | 9.3 | 9 |
| 2015 | • Nelson Agholor, Phil. | 59 | 648 | 11.0 | 3 |
| 2004 | Michael Jenkins, Atl. | 43 | 627 | 14.6 | 3 |
| 2011 | Jon Baldwin, K.C. | 41 | 579 | 14.1 | 2 |
| 2016 | • Josh Doctson, Wash. | 37 | 568 | 15.4 | 6 |
| 2001 | David Terrell, Chi. | 43 | 542 | 12.6 | 7 |
| 2015 | Breshad Perriman, Balt. | 33 | 499 | 15.1 | 3 |
| 2009 | Darrius Heyward-Bey, Oak. | 35 | 490 | 14.0 | 2 |
| 2001 | • Santana Moss, NYJ | 32 | 473 | 14.8 | 6 |
| 2005 | Mike Williams, Det. | 37 | 449 | 12.1 | 2 |
| 2001 | Freddie Mitchell, Phil. | 33 | 388 | 11.8 | 1 |
| 2007 | Robert Meachem, N.O. | 12 | 289 | 24.1 | 4 |
| 2007 | Craig Davis, S.D. | 24 | 247 | 10.3 | 1 |
| 2003 | Charles Rogers, Det. | 22 | 243 | 11.0 | 3 |
| 2016 | Laquon Treadwell, Minn. | 21 | 215 | 10.2 | 0 |
| 2015 | Kevin White, Chi. | 19 | 187 | 9.8 | 0 |
| 2004 | Rashaun Woods, S.F. | 7 | 160 | 22.9 | 1 |
| 2000 | R. Jay Soward, Jac. | 14 | 154 | 11.0 | 1 |
| 2012 | A.J. Jenkins, S.F. | 8 | 130 | 16.3 | 0 |
—Ian Allan