The Buffalo Bills have benched Keon Coleman. The wide receiver was the Bills’ first draft pick, albeit at the top of the second round, in the 2024 NFL draft. Today he is a healthy scratch.
The benching
was first reported by fan site Cover 1 Saturday.
The second-year pass catcher has taken a lot of criticism this season for what appears to be a lack of effort. Head coach Sean McDermott has chosen to not have him in the starting lineup more than once this season – although he was on the field after Buffalo’s first offensive drive each of those times – claiming that it was due to disciplinary measures. While nothing official has come from One Bills Drive, it is widely believed that Coleman was either late, or completely absent, from team meetings on the weeks he was “disciplined.”
After plenty of film surfaced of what looks like Coleman jogging through routes in last week’s unexpected loss to the Miami Dolphins, the wide receiver has been criticized heavily by media and fans. While quarterback Josh Allen refused to admit that Coleman was slacking, there were noticeable hesitations in his answers when directly asked during media sessions.
In his rookie season, Coleman recorded 29 catches for 556 yards, good enough for 19.2 yards per catch, and 4 touchdowns. After an injury in Week 9, the then-rookie missed four weeks and, upon his return, didn’t look as efficient as he had pre-injury. In the final four games of the 2024 season, Coleman recorded just seven catches with only one being for a score. He also had just one catch in each of the Bills’ three post-season games and didn’t find the end zone at all.
Coleman started the 2025 season looking much improved. In Week 1, the wide receiver had eight catches for 112 yards and a touchdown. In fact, he has failed to catch less than three passes in any game this season – much better than some of the 0 and 1 catch days last year. His yards-per-catch average is down from the 19.2 last season to 10.3 this year, and his touchdown production is the same as last season with the potential to exceed last year’s four TDs.
However, what is more telling isn’t in the numbers – at least not his. It’s the sacks that Josh Allen is taking – already six more than all of last year. The less-than-usual production of what was a high-scoring offense for the past several seasons. Allen can’t seem to find an open receiver. Or maybe it’s that he doesn’t trust Coleman to make the plays he needs.
Either way, the Bills chose to sign Mecole Hardman, Jr. to the 53-man roster on Saturday, just three days after the seventh-year wide receiver arrived in Orchard Park as a member of Buffalo’s practice squad. Additionally, the Bills activated Gabe Davis from the practice squad. Davis has been in Buffalo all season but was on the injured list until last week. Now, the Bills are choosing to go with two veterans – one of whom spent the first four years of his career catching passes from Josh Allen.
If the early season messages didn’t get through to Coleman, hopefully this benching does.
