ESPN analyst says Keon Coleman has shown enough to to hush a frequent criticism

Buffalo Bills rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman will be the talk of training camp for Bills Mafia, and rightly so. In life without Stefon Diggs, how Coleman is able to fare in a new-look offense will be instrumental to how this offense goes.

There are critics not expecting Coleman to fair too well in his adjustment to the NFL, but ESPN analyst Louis Riddick isn't one of them.

Louis Riddick: 'Keon Coleman showed he can win'

On a guest spot on the Bills' radio show, Riddick spoke about why he thinks Coleman will be able to make a smooth transition to the next level.

"I remember Davante Adams telling me last year or two years ago, he believes a true No. 1, a true elite wide receiver in the NFL, is a guy that on third and eight, can he line up outside the numbers, when the sideline is not his friend, can he still wind? And Keon Coleman showed at Florida State he can still win."

Coleman can certainly play the boundary. His size at 6'4" 215 lbs is that of a true outside threat, and if he can maintain the way that he attacks the ball in the air in jump ball situations at the next level, he can excel quickly.

"He can win because he's a high riser and he's a former basketball player and he's got great tracking skills. That sounds like a Buffalo wide receiver. That sounds like what Josh Allen would love to have. So I'm fired up about it, about all the guys that they drafted this year. I thought Brandon [Beane] did a great job."

Keon Coleman not feeling pressure to fill void left by departed wide receivers

The Bills are seemingly doing a great job of not heaping a mountain of pressure on Coleman. When asked if he's feeling pressure to fill the void left by Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, Coleman shrugged it off.

"Not at all," Coleman said, per CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin . "All I gotta do is come in, be myself, be who I'm supposed to be ... Because I'm not Gabe, I'm not Stef, I'm just Keon. We got a lot of other guys that definitely complement my game ... along with [quarterback] Josh [Allen], to make things work."

If Buffalo is allowing Coleman the space to be himself, to grow, to build with Allen throughout the offseason process , and to maximize his boundary wide receiver abilities, then they're doing everything possible to set him up for success.

Related: Josh Allen will have to overcome circumstances no other QB in the NFL has in 2024