Kevin

Coleman

“We believe those guys deserve to start, and we’re gonna start them,” was Hafley’s matter-of-fact Wednesday statement. His words come after the ‘Fins officially listed the third-round rookies as starters on Tuesday. His “pitch count” comments pertain to Bell’s summer stint on the NFI list as he completed his recovery from torn ACL suffered last season at Louisville. Starting a pair of Day 2 receivers in Week 1 is far from ideal for anybody, but no less so than trotting out Jalen Tolbert. The Dolphins are fully committed to their rebuild, and rookies like Bell, Douglas and Kevin Coleman are the biggest potential beneficiaries. Bell and Douglas belong on 12-team league watch lists, with Coleman worth a dynasty stash.

Responding to readers on social media this week, Kelly said he believes Coleman is the Dolphins’ best rookie wide receiver, and linked to an article of his from May 8. In the piece, Kelly argues that Coleman should be the team’s front-runner for the starting slot role. If Coleman can pull it off, he may only get on the field when the Dolphins are in three-wide receiver sets, giving him a limited upside.

Coleman (5’10/179) spent his college career with four teams in four seasons, starting at Jackson State with Travis Hunter and Deion Sanders. After Hunter and Sanders left for Colorado, he hopped to Louisville and Mississippi State before finishing at Missouri. Coleman spent much of his college career as a slot receiver with some punt return ability mixed in. He is undersized but has acceleration and agility to make him an effective ball-carrier in space. Coleman is limited in his route tree with shallow receptions littered across his college production. Despite the lack of vertical receptions and touchdown production, Coleman got the ball a combined 153 times on offense between Mississippi State and Missouri in his final two seasons. He has a chance to stick on an NFL roster as a gadget slot receiver and special teams return man.