Perhaps few players enter the 2026 NFL season under a greater microscope than Buffalo Bills WR Keon Coleman.
After Buffalo selected him with the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, owner Terry Pegula piled the pressure on the wide receiver during a press conference announcing the firing of head coach Sean McDermott. Talking about the detailed constructionPegula spoke of the wide receiver in particular:
“Can I interrupt? I’ll deal with Keon’s situation,” Pegula said. “The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon didn’t draft him, but he wasn’t the next pick. That’s Brandon being a team player and taking the coaching staff’s advice that he feels strongly about the player. For some reason, he’s heated up and hasn’t said a word about it, but here I come.”
With those words, on the bus – and with the microscope – Coleman left.
Coleman’s production in the first three weeks of the 2026 NFL season has been mixed at best. He caught six passes in Buffalo’s Week 2 win over the Detroit Lions, but had just one reception in Week 1’s win over the Houston Texans, and one more reception in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
But the two invitationals against the New England Patriots showed what Buffalo and quarterback Josh Allen have to offer.
Take this first catch when making a hard adjustment on a corner route to secure the reception:
This curling catch was sure to make Coleman appear on any postgame highlight reel, but his hat trick in the fourth quarter was even better.
Some might even say it’s a candidate of the year.
Somehow, Coleman pulled this throw away from Allen, moving the chains in a crucial 3rd-and-6 situation in the fourth quarter of a tight contest against the Patriots. Here’s another look at the circus from the Bills wide receiver:
Those types of receptions earn the trust of both Allen and the rest of the Buffalo coaching staff.
And that belief was evident minutes later, when Coleman was pulled for the early start of his account:
That’s certainly some belief from Allen.
And maybe a few people in the owner’s box now believe Coleman, too.
