1 - Corey Coleman on his way
Corey Coleman, who was acquired by the Bills last night in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2020, is expected to arrive at St. John Fisher college today. Coleman was selected 15th overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 2016 NFL Draft, and has battled a couple of injuries in his first two seasons. Although he had to deal with injuries, Coleman was able to pull in 56 catches for 718 yards and five touchdowns in 19 games with the Browns. He is known for his speed and his ability to separate from defenders, running a 4.42 second 40-yard dash at the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine.
Although he is coming to a new team, Coleman has a level of familiarity with some Bills personnel. He was a teammate of Jordan Poyer's in Cleveland in his rookie year. Poyer spoke today about what Coleman brings to the table.
"He is an explosive player. He is really athletic," said Poyer. "I am excited to have another playmaker on our roster."
Poyer also spoke about how Coleman will fit into the culture that coach McDermott and Brandon Beane have cultivated.
"He is a good dude and a hard worker," he said. "We are all excited to have him."
Jeremy Kerley is also familiar with Coleman, as Coleman is from Dallas, Texas, and Kerley hails from Hutto, Texas. The two cities are only two and a half hours apart, and Kerley talked about the addition of Coleman after today's practice.
"I know Corey a little bit, he is a good dude," said Kerley. "I am glad that we got another key weapon."
The consensus around camp is that Coleman will come in and add to an already high level of competition with the current group of receivers. Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, and Coleman would be one of the first to tell you that. As Coleman arrives at camp and gets acclimated to his new surroundings, Bills fans will get a taste of what he can do at this level.
2 - Allen shows off accuracy
Everyone is familiar with Josh Allen's arm strength, big frame, and football focused mind; but his accuracy is not usually the first thing that is brought up in conversation. However, on day 10, Allen wowed onlookers with precision accuracy that came with a level of consistency.
In the first team session of the day, Allen dropped in a beautiful sideline pass about 30 yards downfield to running back Travaris Cadet that was threaded nicely over and through a cover two look on defense. Later in that same session, Allen again placed the ball in a spot in which only his receiver had a shot with a textbook sideline pass to tight end Keith Towbridge.
Later in the session, Allen fired two perfectly placed passes to Robert Foster, and finished the session with a great throw to Ray-Ray McCloud over the middle, which was broken up on a fantastic defensive play from Phillip Gaines.
Most believed the session to be Allen's finest throughout training camp to this point, and he only continued to impress. In the last team session in the red zone, both A.J. McCarron and Nathan Peterman were unable to convert any opportunities into touchdowns on a solid day from the Bills defense. However, Allen rolled out to the right on the thirteenth play of the session and fired a pinpoint laser to Ray-Ray McCloud for a touchdown. McCloud spoke about Allen's accuracy after practice.
"I noticed it when we first got here," he said. "His arm is very strong. He takes a lot of risks. He'll put it in different holes that I haven't seen a lot, but because his arm is so strong it gets there."
Allen will continue to develop his accuracy as camp progresses and he gets his first taste of live game action in the preseason; but he took a big step today.
3 - Red zone defense stout
In the NFL, the ability to force teams in the red zone to kick field goals is extremely valuable as the margin of victory is usually within seven points. Today, the Bills three defensive units had a fantastic day in the red zone. They held the Bills offensive units to just one touchdown throughout the entire team session, and that came on a near-perfect pass from Josh Allen, and the coverage on the play was almost flawless. Ray-Ray McCloud, the target on the touchdown play, spoke about the coverage he was up against.
"It was definitely good coverage," he said. "It was my college teammate Ryan Carter. Him and I have been going at it from day one at Clemson."
Especially strong in the red zone session was Shaq Lawson. Lawson batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage and came up with a sack on A.J. McCarron on a play that would have otherwise been a touchdown reception for Travaris Cadet.
Rafael Bush came up with an interception on a tipped pass at the goal line, continuing his nice work thus far in camp. Bush provides some much-needed depth at the safety position, should anything happen to Micah Hyde or Jordan Poyer. Poyer stepped up and prevented running back Marcus Murphy from taking a Nathan Peterman pass into the end zone on the third play of the session.
The first team defensive line looks primed and ready to perform at a high level. Kyle Williams was in on a sack during the red zone period, and both Harrison Phillips and Star Lotulelei forced the offense to make quicker decisions on a regular basis. Opposing offenses could be forced to kick more field goals if the defense remains this focused in the red zone.
