Gang Green Nation
After the trade of Stephon Diggs to the Houston Texans in 2024, the Buffalo Bills passing offense took on a committee approach. Khalil Shakir led the Bills in targets a year ago with 100. That tied him for 37th most targets in the league. No other Buffalo pass catcher had more than 75.
The approach didn’t hurt. The Bills had the second highest scoring offense in the league and went to the AFC Championship Game while Josh Allen won the MVP.
It seemed worth noting that second year wide receiver Keon Coleman had a big night in Buffalo’s Week 1 comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Bills are looking for the second year receiver to make a big leap in year two. He posted 8 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown in the opener. It was a very promising start to year two.
It is also worth noting that Coleman led Buffalo with 11 targets.
Box score scouting can only take us so far, though. What jumped out to me when watching the film of this game was the types of throws Allen was making to Coleman.
I’ll put it this way. I don’t think you make this many throws that are going into tight windows and/or require the receiver to win after the ball is already in the air unless you really trust him.
I didn’t see Allen making these types of throws to any other Bills receiver. One game is one game. There’s only so much meaning you can put on it. It did seem like the start of a budding trust between elite quarterback and new number one option.
Another area where it seemed like Allen and Coleman had a budding chemistry was when Allen got off script. An important part of playing wide receiver for a quarterback like Allen is knowing where to get when the play breaks down, and Allen breaks the pocket. It looked like Coleman’s understanding here is growing.
For the Jets, Week 1 saw a change in Sauce Gardner’s usage. After primarily playing on the left side his first three seasons in the NFL, the newly minted $30.1 million man followed Steelers number one receiver DK Metcalf around the field for almost the entire game.
That sort of rate shows that even in zone coverage, Gardner was going to Metcalf’s side of the field since it was the most likely way to get Metcalf going into the zone Gardner was covering.
Nobody can fairly say that Coleman is on Metcalf’s level at this point. Metcalf has three 1,000+ yard seasons under his belt. Coleman has a decent rookie season and a big Week 1 game in his sophomore year.
I think this raises a point about the purpose of having Gardner shadow the other team’s top target. Of course you want him to be an eraser. But as much as that, you want to force the other team to leave its comfort zone. Even if Coleman isn’t quite on that...
