Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - When the Buffalo Bills re-made their wide receiver group this offseason, the biggest question was, "Who is going to replace Stefon Diggs' production?" That question was worth asking, and it appears we may finally have our answer in Amari Cooper.
While we were all trying to figure that out, Keon Coleman has quietly been replacing the role of another important Bills wideout of the last five years that left this past offseason: Gabe Davis.
Davis was the Bills' primary X-receiver for multiple seasons. The X-receiver is the one who is lined up right on the line of scrimmage, which can be more difficult to play than the Z-receiver that gets an extra yard between himself and the defender to get off press coverage.
Coleman has played both, but is getting lots of snaps in that Davis spot.
In addition, Davis would be the Bills receiver to play the most snaps in most weeks. This year, Coleman leads the Bills in snaps at that position.
It does feel like the expectation of both players is relatively the same. Be a big physical receiver, make the occasional big play, and be someone that can be trusted to block in the run game.
Both players have done that, but in different ways.
With Davis, every contribution he made looked the same. He was either running past defenders and Josh Allen would lay it out for him to run under, or he was working back to the football as Allen bought time. Those were the most consistent Davis plays.
That being said, the giant downfield plays did dwindle as his Bills career progressed.
What you didn't get out of Davis was the ability to create with the ball in his hands, or someone you could trust to go up and grab a contested ball. And in one of those areas, Coleman blows him away.
When it comes to yards-after-catch, in four years with the Bills, Davis' career-high for a season was 179 yards. Through only seven games this season, Coleman is already at 165 yards.
Coleman does not have the game-breaking runaway speed, but he does have the shiftiness and natural instincts of a punt returner. You've seen big plays against the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans, where Coleman catches the ball, finds the open space and runs to it, shedding a tackler or making a man miss if need be.
You might think Coleman also has an advantage on Davis in contested catch situations. That's what I thought when I dove into the numbers, but the numbers said my eyes were deceiving me.
Looking back on Davis' ability in contested catch situations, I remember a player that would often catch the ball with technique that was just a little off. Sometimes he would still catch it, but there was this alligator arms vibe with Davis where sometimes his hands just wouldn't come together as the ball arrived.
That's resulted in Davis catching 29-o- 71 contested passes in his career, a catch rate of 40.8%.
I wrote about this back in September, but Coleman, again, is building the reputation of someone that thrives on contested catches, yet the numbers just do not represent that.
Coleman is 3-for-8 on contested balls this season, good for 37.5%. This isn't too different than what happened in college, when Coleman ranked 98th out of 120 receivers in contested catch percentage.
His 37.5% contested catch rate ranks him 56th out of 84 receivers with 20-or-more targets this season.
Now that Cooper is in the fold, I wonder if these Coleman numbers might improve. How many of those contested balls have been thrown his way, when they shouldn't, because the Bills have just had no other options?
Either way, it's a play that's going to have to become more efficient in the Bills offense.
On the overall, Coleman, as a rookie, is on pace to produce just about as much as Davis did in his best season. Coleman is currently on pace for 38 catches, 792 yards, and five touchdowns, while averaging 20 yards per-catch.
By yardage, that would be Davis' second-best season with the Bills, and would only come 44 yards short of Davis' career high. And that's if Coleman's production doesn't go up, which I think it will.
Cooper's impact, taking defensive attention away from others, should be good news for Coleman. Last season, Rashee Rice was an example of a second-round receiver that started pretty well, and exploded down the stretch.
Coleman is not replacing what the Bills lost in Diggs this offseason, but what he is doing is giving the Bills what they lost in Davis. He's just doing it in different ways.
