PITTSFORD — Josh Allen might have to double take. He might have to ask, “Who is that again?”
The Buffalo Bills were without five wide receivers and their top two tight ends in some capacity Tuesday, leading to mixing and matching with the first-team offense. But the top three receivers haven’t changed since training camp opened.
The Bills weren’t projected to have a superstar at receiver this year, or maybe not even a star. But they may have found three receivers who complement each other in Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer and Khalil Shakir.
Coleman is the physical presence, with the ability to out-jump or out-muscle defensive backs. Palmer, the newcomer, runs crisp routes and can stretch the field or catch a quick pass underneath. And Shakir is sure-handed and seemingly always open.
While they all have different skills, they all can play outside or in the slot. They also keep Buffalo’s desire to spread the ball around alive as 54 receivers have caught a pass from Allen since 2018, second-most in the NFL behind Patrick Mahomes (64).
“You don’t know how your route is going to affect the play,” Palmer said. “You don’t really even know if you’re going to get the ball. You might be the last read and still might get the ball. With this offense, you just have to be ready at all times. Especially with Josh, because he’ll throw it to anybody and he can get it there.”
Coleman has been the star of camp thus far. The second-year receiver looks vastly improved after public criticism from the Bills’ brass about how he returned from a wrist injury late last season.
There have been a couple drops, but Coleman has racked up a highlight reel of plays and has no favoritism for the cornerbacks he’s beaten. An in-breaking route Friday caused Tre’Davious White to slip on a touchdown catch. He out-jumped Ja’Marcus Ingram for a touchdown Sunday and has provided welcome-to-the-NFL plays to rookies Maxwell Hairston and Dorian Strong.
Coleman showed as a rookie the big-play ability many questioned whether he had coming into the NFL. But Coleman was often boom or bust, averaging 19.2 yards per catch and 15.2-yard average depth per target.
Now Coleman is looking to show he’s a more varied route runner who can run the full tree rather than making his catches on jump balls and slants. That has come through film study with Allen during the offseason and spring.
“He’ll be like, ‘I’m thinking this, what were you thinking there?’” Coleman said. “I’ll say that and we’ll conversate and get to the same point. … and then we go out there and execute.”
Palmer is also constantly chatting with Allen about route-running and ball placement. But that’s because Palmer spent his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers, primarily catching passes from Justin Herbert.
Allen said he asks Palmer where he likes the ball on certain routes, while Palmer is asking after every play whether he ran the route to Allen’s preference. Until they establish more chemistry over time, Palmer is trying to keep his route-running basic.
“I run the route how I think I’m supposed to run it and I run it fast without thinking, so it makes it black and white for him,” Palmer said. “If I’m hesitating, then he’s hesitating. That’s how I normally come into it. I’m going to run it how I think I’m supposed to run it and if it needs to change, he will tell me.”
While Palmer makes his living on yards before the catch — he ranked third in the NFL with 12.4 per reception last year — Shakir does so after the ball is in his hands. Shakir ranked fifth among receivers in YAC last year (7.9) and was third in 2023 (7.2), according to Pro Football Reference.
A high school running back, Shakir has never been a consistent downfield threat, which is why his career targets have come 6.9 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and why he ranked third in total YAC last season (597).
That’s always going to be how Shakir makes the bulk of his plays, but he spent the offseason finding different ways to get open, including adding more downfield speed.
“Holding speed for a certain amount of time and that quick burst, as well as separation,” Shakir said. “Just finding new ways, new releases and new ways to get open against man coverage. That’s something I’ve worked on a lot this offseason was just running, trusting my speed, trusting myself to just run away and make plays.”