Watch Corey Coleman receive his phone call from the Cleveland Browns (Video)
April 29, 20162016 NFL Draft, Day 2: Top talent still available for the Browns
April 29, 2016The Cleveland Browns did a fantastic job hiding their intentions, squeezing as much as possible from two different teams in trade downs, and wound up drafting the 2015 Biletnikoff Award winning wide receiver to fill a position of deseperate need. Yet they did so while eschewing other fan-favorite prospects at wide receiver and other positions. So, due to the secrecy and movement of selection slot, there was not much discussion about Corey Coleman whom the Browns tabbed as their latest first-round draft pick.
Given this, we tackle the age-old question: Who the heck is this guy?
Narrative
Not many star athletes grow up in a rough neighborhood with a father who is now in prison for felony cocaine distribution, and have a sparkling off the field resume. But coaches and players are all glowing in their speak about Coleman. ESPN’s Chris Low did an in-depth article that walks through the upbringing of Baylor’s latest star. The entire article is worth a read, but it speaks to the work and intentional choice to be an elite player that Coleman took. His mother, Cassandra Jones, worked two jobs to put her children in the best possible situation she could and sought out the best mentors to help guide them.
About the time Coleman turned 9, he was introduced to former Baylor star Ray Crockett, who would become his godfather. A family friend knew Crockett, who took Coleman under his wing…
“He helped show me the bigger picture,” Coleman said of Crockett, who won two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos. “You see a lot of people growing up with a lot of talent, but they don’t make it. I pictured myself living the way Ray does in Southlake, and that pushed me even harder to stay out of trouble and distance myself from anything and anybody that might lead to trouble.”
About that size?
- 5-foot-11 194 pounds Corey Coleman
- 6-foot-2 180 pounds Brian Hartline
5-foot-10 172 pounds Travis Benjamin- 5-foot-8 167 pounds Tayor Gabriel
- 5-foot-7 175 pounds Andrew Hawkins
While Brian Hartline does have three inches on him, Coleman becomes the heaviest wide receiver on the team and has an inch plus twenty pounds on the departed Benjamin. Not that the weight slows down the explosive Coleman who had a 4.37 40-yard dash time along with a 40.5-inch vertical demonstrating an elite, explosive athleticism. And, his 17 repetitions of 225 pounds in the bench press do show he has some strength as well.
Stack’s Jordan Zirm documented Coleman’s workouts a while back. In his words, “Dude is a beast.”
Oh, Coleman also did all of his impressive workouts while coming back from a sports hernia surgery most expected to see hold him back in the pre-draft period, which helps give credence to the rave reviews on his work ethic and toughness that have been given throughout the draft process.
So, while Coleman is not the big huge hulk of a wide receiver a team can use to bully the smaller defensive backs, he definitely has adequate size and should have no issue staying on the outside where he can utilize his over-the-top speed and jump ball ability.
https://vine.co/v/eVLejIXw5b2
About those drops
Coleman is not an imposing physical presence, has smaller hands at nine inches, and some scouts noted he lost concentration ahead of hits across the middle, leading him to be registered with 10 drops on 122 targets in 2015. It should be noted that some of those drops came from attempting to make ridiculously acrobatic catches, many of which he made. While Coleman did have a propensity to catch balls over the middle too close to his body, which led to some of his drops, it should be noted he is not Vince Mayle with the ball. He had a ton of targets and was the first priority of the defense to roll safety help. He was fantastic at going above defensive backs on jump balls.
And, not all “drops” are created equally.
https://vine.co/v/iwLlbhUz2ui
Comparitively with his fellow first round receivers, Coleman was targeted 122 times (10 drops), and only Ole Miss wide receiver Laquon Treadwell had more with 124 targets (12 drops). Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller had the same amount of drops with 23 less targets. Josh Doctson, on the other hand, had the best hands in the class as he finished with only five drops in 110 targets.
So, yes, Coleman will have to work on his technique when he is going over the middle of the field, in particular against a team playing an umbrella zone coverage as the Pittsburgh Steelers enjoy employing, but Coleman is an outside wide receiver first and does not have terrible hands as some have been stating.
https://vine.co/v/elal1IunZ7b
Touchdowns!!!!
In the lead up to the 2016 NFL Draft, Browns Sashi Brown said that he looks for players who score touchdowns when asked about what the team was searching for on offense. The seemingly droll response might actually have given some insight into a key component of the Browns draft prospect evaluation. Every NFL defense is of course attempting to stop touchdowns first and foremost. There are 11 defenders on the field whose primary objective is to keep the player with the football out of their end zone. Find the players who best circumvent these defenses is then the most obvious thing to do.
Well, duh!
Yeah, not exactly the hard core statistical analysis one would expect from a Harvard Brain Trust, right? Except, the simple things are often the most complex. The common narrative is that to score touchdowns, teams should draft bigger receivers. The idea is that over-sized guys who can box out in the red zone have better odds to score them. However, there is a reason that Coleman had 20 touchdowns in 2015 and the huge Treadwell only had 11. Offenses are allowed to score before they snap a down inside that red zone and those huge plays often are momentum changers, and Coleman’s leaping ability gives him an advantage even when the spaces get tighter near the goalline.
There is a reason that Football Outsiders gave Corey Coleman a playmaker score of 99.8%, which is near perfect.
Corey Coleman has a monster projection. As a junior, Coleman gained 1,363 receiving yards and caught an eye-popping 20 touchdowns. Because Baylor only passed the ball 389 times in 2016, Coleman scored a touchdown on 5.1 percent of Baylor’s passes. That’s an incredible ratio, which has only been topped by four elite college players: Randy Moss, Demaryius Thomas, Dez Bryant, and Larry Fitzgerald. Coleman also tested out well physically, posting a position-best 40.5-inch vertical jump at the NFL combine.
Now, there is a legitimate question about how much the Art Briles offense at Baylor helped inflate his numbers. Briles is a relative genius at taking an incredibly simplified route-tree and finding ways to create matchups and space for his players. The Bears run more than most think, which leads to play-action passing too. But, Coleman was not the one-year wonder of Kendall Wright and simply has more athletic gifts than the other recent Bear receivers to enter the NFL Draft. So, while he will need to prove he can learn to run routes with efficiency, there should be ways to make him help the offense early in his career.
https://vine.co/v/iglWhIYMVw6
Analytics!!!!
All data is analytics, so everything is inputted and weighted. Finding all of the necessary information and weighing it appropriately is the most important aspect to creating a proper probability spectrum. For the Browns, those equations pushed Coleman to the top of the wide receiver stack in 2016. So, it is possible the data the Browns utilized yielded positive responses in discerning answers for some of the open-ended questions about him.
How much are Coleman’s statistics ballooned by Baylor’s offense? Was he playing hurt (sports hernia surgery in December) during the last four game stretch that led to decreased numbers (0 touchdowns) or was the increased level of competition (Oklahoma, OkieState, TCU, Texas) the reason his numbers dropped off a cliff? Or, does the fact he came up biggest against the toughest 2014 defenses mitigate that worry? How hard (or important) is it to learn blocking and route trees that Coleman did not have in college? Does Coleman have the work ethic to succeed?
https://vine.co/v/iheJbvpwmr3
Is Corey Coleman really the best wide receiver in this class?
No one will know for certain until the players take the field, and the answer might be fluid over the next few seasons. However, there are some indicators that show he might be or become that player. Among the first round picked wide receivers, he had the most YAC (yards after catch), touchdowns, and was just behind Will Fuller in yards per target (14.9 to Fuller’s 15.0).
But, what type of receiver should fans expect? NFL.com’s Mike Mayock notes “He’s a dynamic playmaker. Think Percy Harvin, that’s the kind of playmaker that he is. He has a quick start and explosive speed.” But, Coleman sees himself more as the Steelers Antonio Brown, while DeSean Jackson who played well with Robert Griffin III in Washington also is a potential comparison.
With Coleman’s speed, explosiveness off the snap, jumping ability, and quickness, Desean Jackson is probably the most easily replicable player for Coleman in his rookie year. Utilizing his speed and abilities to get down the field where RG3 is at his best delivering the ball will be a welcome component to the Browns offense. However, if Coleman really does want to become considered the best wide receiver from this class, then aiming to learn the footwork and routes of Antonio Brown is a fantastic goal. The willingness to work on having precise timing and the ability to change speed and direction at will are traits Coleman might develop, but does not presently have.
But, given his background, work ethic, and drive for greatness, I am not willing to bet against him either.
https://vine.co/v/eVLejIXw5b2
47 Comments
Terrific write-up, mg. I feel better now.
Josh Gordon was happy on Twitter.
nice job MG … i know we both liked treadwell , but i’m guessing the HBT did their homework on all the WR’s & coleman was their guy. i’m more than okay with it.
i read a few articles where the browns have already got high marks for the trades they have made & all of the picks they have stockpiled.
Stop getting me excited! I promised myself I’d stop
I feel better about him.
Team Snark reserves the right to remain skeptical.
+1 on a great write up Bode. Kid has the opposite of red flags. Tremendous character, healthy, serious speed and finds a way to get the ball. No one knows how it will translate, but they did their homework and stuck to the scouting reports. They had their pick of receivers so we know he was top on their board. And they basically got a whole nother draft in the process.
Now get a stud at 32.
HOT TAEKZ OR NONE.
Is it a hotter take to hate or love Coleman?
he found a 7-11 having a BOGO on Twinkies. Pay no mind
Yes
The foundation upon which all modern sports writing is based on. 😀
Did you notice the C, which came from CBS, was about the laziest write up ever? So, if we’re doing weighted averages, Id eliminate that one
Honestly, I started getting worried about Treadwell due to all the negative stuff coming out about the culture at Ole Miss. There’s a reason their three top prospects all dropped lower than what their talent level said about them.
Not assigning blame or saying Treadwell definitively was in with the others, but I do believe it was added risk.
Lots of comments on OBR about Coleman being the PFF top rated receiver. Could give some insight into their board in general.
I was raised by the saying “an individual can only show their true character when presented with difficulties.”
Well, I think it is safe to say Coleman has shown the type of person he is under trial.
Tricky part is PFF is statistic/measurable only. Browns HAVE to be focused on more or you get another Justin Gilbert. I honestly think it was Ray Farmer’s biggest downfall (he trusted the equations without realizing he needed to input the character stuff as part of them).
PFs positive reviews of our OL could give you some insight in them, also.
Thank you guys. Appreciate all the kind words on this one.
To be fair, WRs are much easier for them to scout/grade than OL.
With OL, they grade what the OL did individually and cannot do it as a unit (as they don’t know rules/respon.) and then just add the scores up.
I think it helped our above average OL (last year) look like an elite one to them.
You only need two “stats” to grade an OL.
1. Does it open running lanes?
2. Does it protect the QB?
Our OL failed consistently in both areas, yet PFF continued to grade them high.
#TeamAlwaysSunny thinks this is a pro-bowl caliber player who will contribute immediately.
Depends on the audience, I suppose
You mean like not interviewing players, and not attending pro-days?
You’re absolutely right, Max. That was lazy.
The other C came from the Washington Post writer, who complained that the Browns didn’t do anything to get their “potential franchise quarterback.” Huh? So that means Coleman is a so-so player? Don’t think so.
Thanks for this perspective, Bode, especially re the “drops.” Turns out, most guys coming out of college aren’t yet fully NFL-caliber receivers. Besides, I like the TD stat better than the drop stat, even if both are skewed by the offense he was in. Regardless, I ain’t worried one bit. This kid is going to be good.
I’m not usually one to extoll my scouting abilities (certainly never on the level of all of you draft nerds), but do I at least get partial credit for this call? Sure, I was targeting him with the 33rd pick, but mostly because I was believing the mock hype that the other guys would go first and did not think the Browns would go WR in Round 1 – but he was my favorite WR going into the draft. I think I’m arguably on record with this. Whaddya say? Please? I’ll take a cookie, anything.
Naw, grading OL is much more nuanced than that.
Was JoeT bad last year? No.
Did our QBs hold onto the ball for 4-5 sec too often? Yes.
Again, I don’t agree w/ how high PFF had them, but our OL was better than most.
https://kisbuel.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/cochon2.gif
“No one will know for certain until the players take the field, and the answer might be fluid over the next few seasons”
I’ll give him this…not many had Beckham Jr as the top WR from his class either.
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view7/3700568/i-m-good-enough-o.gif
Nice piece, Bode. I especially like the stuff about Coleman’s character. The older I get, the more I realize that so much of success in life is putting the work in. Putting the work in when things aren’t going your way and putting the work in when they are. Guys like JJ Watt exemplify this. You don’t have to like him to acknowledge he’s at the top of the league at his position yet works like he’s at the bottom.
Josh can’t come to the phone right now.
Its amazing some of these guys get paychecks. Although the state of “journalism” is pretty ugly right now, and they’re paid more on quantity than quality, so why not mail crap in? garbage in, garbage out. Hooray
Josh I am your Father!!!!!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChOyaBUW0AAb8TK.jpg
Twitter is brutal!
Didn’t see this posted here, but this is a good breakdown on how highly analytic projection systems think of Coleman. No wonder our front office liked him.
http://www.dawgsbynature.com/2016/4/27/11519700/projections-like-coleman-down-on-doctson
Just noting: they are referencing Football Outsiders, which is the same that I have above – they just quote a different section.
Hard to know if our FO uses the same type of metrics or different ones though and small sample sizes coupled with competition issues (LAMAR!) make the process more difficult.
Twitter is not only brutal but a cesspool.
should we discount the stats 20%, 30% or 40% for playing in the big 12?
yes he was 3rd in NCAA for receiving yds per game. but your honor, i direct your attention the bottom half of last year’s schedule in the attached… the games where he wasnt playing rice, texas tech, or kansas.
I say 20% for BigXII and another 10% for Baylor’s OOC.
Also, it was noted in the article on those last four games.. If you discredit those games, then you must also explain his HUGE games against the toughest defenses he faced in 2014. The 2015 games, he was playing with a sports hernia that he had surgery on once the regular season ended, so there is some justification.
i completely forgot about baylor’s qb situation at the end of the which actually make this above post moot.
your honor, move to retract?
Yes, there is also the fact that they ran out of QBs for the Texas game. More info is better IMO, so I would leave this here with the clarification you just added.
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honestly – can you believe that a high-picking NFL GM would skip a first-round prospect’s pro day? unreal.
I’m going to create 50 extra logins just so i can uptick this 50 more times.
Bode, I am now onboard. excellent work, son.
Thanks. Happy to help.