Cleveland Browns: Corey Coleman’s Development

The Cleveland Browns have a somewhat delicate situation with Corey Coleman to try to both utilize him as a rookie while still developing him for the long term.

Corey Coleman was the first selection of the newest Cleveland Browns regime in addition to being the face of this youth movement at wide receiver. The expectations for the Browns this year should be pretty low in terms of the standings but there will be pressure for Coleman in particular to show that Hue Jackson’s group has this team headed in the right direction.

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The natural question is, how do the Browns develop and utilize Coleman so that he can get his career off to a good start?

In order to answer this, it’s important to look at how Coleman operated in Baylor’s scheme and why it enabled him to put up outstanding production.

At Baylor, Coleman played at the X wide receiver, lined up exclusively on the left nearest to the sideline. His remarkable physical gifts made it so the second he walked onto the field, he had a decisive advantage over anyone tasked with trying to cover him.

Coleman possessed the speed to stretch defenses deep, the agility to make opposing tacklers miss and more than enough strength to be confident in anything he was doing with flashes of him simply overpowering opponents. Despite his route tree being limited to running screens, hitches and go routes, he was still able to win the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver, recording an impressive 74 catches for 13,63 yards and 20 touchdowns in 12 games.

When the Browns got a hold of Coleman, there was some hope that he was more advanced as a technical wide receiver and he just hasn’t shown it yet. Jay Lee, Coleman’s teammate, currently with the Detroit Lions, had the same limited route tree at Baylor, but when he was able to participate at the Senior Bowl practices, Lee showed he was more advanced than his college tape would lead anyone to believe.

To this point, there hasn’t been any indication that is the case with Coleman. It didn’t help that Coleman suffered a sports hernia during his final season at Baylor and the resulting surgery and recovery forced him to focus almost entirely on his athletic testing rather than the nuances of the position.

Now that the Browns have him, they could just keep him as that X receiver on the left the way Baylor did and try to expand his route tree. However, without the overwhelming physical dominance he possessed in college, this ends up limiting him more than it helps.

There’s no question that Coleman will still have a physical advantage against a lot of NFL competition, but it won’t be nearly as decisive as it was in the Big XII. This is a major reason why the Browns wanted Coleman. He does have special athletic traits.

The best thing that Hue Jackson can do to create opportunities to get the ball in Coleman’s hands is to move him around the formation. Certainly, they will have him line up in different spots, but one of the concepts Jackson will import from his time with the Cincinnati Bengals is the use of motion.

Motion has three benefits for Coleman:

1. Against man coverage, it switches who is covering Coleman, which can create a favorable matchup.
2. It enables Coleman to avoid press coverage.
3. Coleman’s speed advantage is only enhanced by a running start

And while the Browns are already trying to expand Coleman’s route tree, motion would allow him to focus on mastering a smaller number of routes if necessary. Realistically, Coleman could run nothing but screens, hitches and go’s this year and find ways to make plays just by having Jackson use motion to create favorable matchups.

So much of what makes Coleman dangerous at any level is his run after the catch. His out of this world agility combined with blazing speed make him a threat to score anytime the ball in his hands, so as important as the route tree is, creating mismatches does more for both Coleman and the Browns on offense.

Improved technique will be what allows him to go from being a dangerous receiver to a dominant one, winning at all levels of the field, but that takes time. His outstanding body control will shorten that learning curve when it comes to executing and understanding how to run routes.

The more difficult part to learn is understanding how to beat the opponent. Picking up the nuances of corners isn’t something that Coleman has ever really had to do. They had to react and adjust to him. And on occasion, he still will be able to do that. When opponents are able to stay with him, that will force him to win with technique which is something to watch as the season progresses.

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Coleman should be able to make some plays this year. Unless he shows he is just completely ill equipped for the NFL, the Browns appear poised to make sure Coleman gets enough touches to show some flashes of his play-making capability and build his confidence for the future.

The thing to keep an eye on with Coleman is third down and red zone opportunities. When the Browns need a play to convert, is Coleman going to be on the field?

On a team full of rookies, it stands to reason that Coleman should be on the field. However, on third down and in the red zone, Jackson might put a premium on execution and given where Coleman is in his development, he might not be the obvious choice.

This is where fellow rookies Jordan Payton and Rashard Higgins might get a nod over Coleman if they have to make a choice. The Browns picked them specifically due to the fact they were so polished coming out of college.

Payton is a good athlete in his own right, but the Browns balanced out their draft at wide receiver by picking Coleman and Ricardo Louis as explosive athletes with huge upside while taking Payton and Higgins who need to be step in and play their roles early.

There’s also a feel element to this. When plays break down, some receivers have a knack for finding space for their quarterback to throw the ball. Brian Hartline, now released, was actually quite effective in this area last year, coming up with a few touchdowns(in the preseason and regular season) because he instinctively knew where to go and Josh McCown was able to find him.

This isn’t something that came up at Baylor for Coleman. Between the design of their offense and level of competition, Coleman’s side of the field was getting the ball or he wasn’t even really running a route.

If Coleman can prove viable on third down and in the red zone opportunities where Robert Griffin III (likely) is comfortable throwing the ball his way, it would be a major step in his development.  Even better if he can capitalize on them.

The last way the Browns may decide to use Coleman is on punt returns. Outside of general direction the return is designed to go, Coleman would basically be able to use his athleticism however he chooses. If he’s comfortable in that role, there’s no simpler way for him to have a potential impact.

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There is a ton to like about Coleman as a prospect, but it isn’t realistic to expect greatness out of him right away. Nevertheless, Hue Jackson and his staff  can take what he already does well and try to take advantage of it now while he becomes a more well-rounded player in the long run. If Coleman can find ways to contribute as a rookie while becoming more technically proficient, he could become everything the Browns intended in selecting him 15^th overall.