Why Bills GM was happy with WR Keon Coleman's poor 40-yard-dash time

Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane was not bothered by wide receiver Keon Coleman's underwhelming 40-yard dash time. In fact, he was delighted.

Mar 2, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman (WO04) during the 2024 / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The 40-yard dash, though a bit antiquated, has long been the primary tool utilized to test the speed of NFL hopefuls. The drill, held at collegiate Pro Days and at each year’s NFL Scouting Combine, sees players line up in a three-point stance before exploding into a sprint, the time in which they’re able to cover 40 yards, in theory, indicating their speed.

It’s arguably the most popular part of each year’s Combine, and for good reason—it’s, admittedly, quite fun to watch elite athletes sprint. There’s a significant issue with the test, however—football players generally aren’t taking off from a three-point stance.

Prospects running the 40-yard dash often get hung up on the takeoff, with their resulting time, thus, not accurately representing their true speed. This isn’t to discredit players like Xavier Worthy, who completed the drill in a Combine record 4.21 seconds this year, but given the non-football related intricacies of the test, it’s a bit disingenuous to suggest it’s an accurate indication of a prospect’s speed.

This is where the idea of “test speed” vs. “play speed” comes in—a prospect may not test well in the 40-yard dash, but this is ultimately meaningless if their speed is evident on the field. The Buffalo Bills feel confident that wide receiver Keon Coleman is the latest player to fall into this category; the 6-foot-3 wideout, whom the Bills selected with the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, did not perform well in the 40-yard dash at this year’s Combine, running a 4.61-second 40 (the second worst among receivers in attendance).

Buffalo’s brass, however, was not bothered by the prospect’s poor performance. General manager Brandon Beane was actually delighted by it.

Why? It made the possibility of him falling to the bottom of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft more realistic.

The team recently uploaded an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the 2024 draft to its YouTube channel, with the front office’s trip to this year’s Combine being among the topics covered. The video showcases Beane and company watching and discussing Coleman’s 40-yard dash, with the executive telling his colleagues that he was happy with the wideout’s time.

“I’m glad he ran that,” Beane told Assistant General Manager Brian Gaine and Director of Player Personnel Terrance Gray after Coleman’s dash. “It’ll help to get him.”

Love these behind the scenes looks from the evaluation side along with the quotable & telling lines. Also pairs nicely with the well chosen reps of Keon Coleman at the Combine#Bills #BillsMafia #GoBills

pic.twitter.com/Smsyvuvhe9

— Anthony Cover 1 (@Pro__Ant) May 8, 2024

Beane and Gray likened Coleman’s drill to that of Gabriel Davis at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine; the then-UCF receiver ran an underwhelming 4.54, allowing him to fall to the Bills in the fourth round.

Making Buffalo more confident in its initial assessment of Coleman was his performance in the gauntlet drill; he reached a top speed of 20.36 miles per hour during the test, per NextGenStats, the highest of any player in his group.

Beane spoke about Coleman’s speed in the Bills’ YouTube video, again reiterating the idea of “test speed” vs. “play speed.”

“He’s a guy whose got play speed, he’s got short-area quickness for a big guy,” Beane said. “We all know, some guys, they can run the track time, but that’s where the mental part comes into it, too. I always say if you run 4.3 but you’re not smart, you’ll never play 4.3.”

While Coleman’s lack of top-end speed is perhaps an overblown concern, he’s not an excellent separator; he’ll need to refine his route-running and general technique in order to consistently create separation at the professional level. That said, the 20-year-old is a malleable ball of clay, a prospect the Bills have the opportunity to mold into whatever they want. 

This ‘molding’ will start soon, as Coleman figures to play a prominent role in a Buffalo receiving corps that lost Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis in the offseason. Beane has already indicated that the former Florida State Seminole will likely serve as the team’s “X” wide receiver, generally lining up outside.

Check out the full episode of Buffalo Bills Embedded here; the Combine clips start at the 6:30 mark.