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Why Bills OT Dion Dawkins wanted Keon Coleman’s signed cleats after Week 8 win

Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins wanted wide receiver Keon Coleman's signed cleats following their team's Week 8 win. Here's why.

Kyle Silagyi

Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
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Blocks and general physicality rarely earn wide receivers spots on highlight reels, but Keon Coleman’s third-quarter block in the Buffalo Bills’ Week 8 win over the Seattle Seahawks was too comical not to gain national notoriety. 

To set the stage: the rookie wide receiver was lined up against Seattle cornerback Josh Jobe on a play designed for third-year contributor Khalil Shakir. The play saw the wideout motion into the backfield and receive a quick pass behind the line of scrimmage, with Coleman’s responsibility being to block his assignment; he not only effectively controlled the defender, but he pushed him out of bounds and deep onto the Buffalo sideline, literally pushing the defensive back into the bench.

A scrum ensued, and both Coleman and Jobe were assessed unnecessary roughness penalties. Though fouls are never ideal, the level of physicality the first-year wideout displayed is, and it made an impact on his teammates; in a game in which the rookie caught five passes for 70 yards and an incredible one-handed touchdown, it’s his block into the bench that’s perhaps most heavily resonating with Buffalo’s locker room. Stalwart left tackle Dion Dawkins spoke about the play after the 31-10 win, telling WROC-TV’s Thad Brown that he’ll remember this victory as “The Bench Game.”

Related: Bills HC ascribes rookie WR Keon Coleman’s growth to acquisition of Amari Cooper

“Incredible," Dawkins said. "I love Key. Incredible. He actually gave me his cleats. I’m going to have him sign them. ‘Bench Game.’ ‘The Bench Game.’ It’s where he drove his guy to the bench. I’m proud of him. It’s a heavy deal in this league, but for him to come out there and play with that physicality, it’s amazing. Coach wants our receivers to play that, and Keon is doing what his coach is telling him to do. Big Key.”

Coleman’s blocking ability and effort in the run game are part of what made him attractive to Buffalo in the pre-draft process, and he’s flashed his prowess in this facet of the game time and time again throughout his first eight bouts as a professional. It’s part of the reason why he’s played on a position-high 68% of the team’s offensive snaps thus far this year and a season-high 63 snaps in Week 8—he’s a willing blocker, and Buffalo’s coaching staff is, thus, comfortable having on the field more often than not. Combine his blocking prowess with his recent bump in production (he’s caught nine total passes for 195 yards over the last two weeks), and you have a player who is quickly giving his team confidence that it made the right decision by selecting him in the 2024 NFL Draft.

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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