Receiver Watch: Corey Coleman may have the biggest ceiling of any receiver taken in the first round.

Coleman became the first player in school history to post two 1,000-yard receiving seasons and basically made a mockery of defenses during his final season on campus in 2015, lighting up opponents for a FBS-best 20 touchdowns through the team's first eight games before going scoreless over the next four (after the Bears were riddled with injuries at quarterback) and sitting out the Bears' win at the Russell Athletic Bowl due to hernia surgery. Despite his unspectacular ending, Coleman did all right for himself on the awards circuit at the end of 2015, becoming a unanimous All-American and capturing the Biletnikoff Award.

NFL Player Comp(s): Percy Harvin

Best Scheme Fit: Vertical passing game or spread offense. Perhaps he could be used as a gadget player/deep threat/return man right away as he sharpens his route-running chops before transitioning into a high-end second receiver. Could become a dynamic option in the slot if/when he becomes a solid route-runner.

Strengths

• Explosive athlete who hits top speed in the blink of an eye; eats up defensive back's cushion quickly.
  
• Lightning-quick first step and creates almost immediate separation.
  
• Extremely elusive in the backfield and on quick-hitters and has a nose for the end zone; slips the first tackle consistently on the rare occasion he is contacted at the line of scrimmage or the backfield.
  
• Tracks ball well over his shoulder and displays very good body control in the air; shows no fear and is the rare sub-6' receiver that can win more than his fair share of 50-50 throws.
  
• Targeted nearly 40 percent of the time in up-tempo offense and was often defense's top priority (especially near the goal line), yet defenses struggled to stop him.
  
• Although he did very little of it after his freshman year, he has return experience and could easily be one of the more dynamic return men in the NFL.

Weaknesses

• Ran a limited route tree in college - primarily utilized on 9-routes, hitches, slants and tunnel screens - and will probably require much development time in this area.
  
• Too many focus drops, especially over the middle of the defense; career drop percentage of 6.6.
  
• Often makes the difficult catch look easy, but will sometimes make the routine catch look difficult.
  
• Runs a bit too high, making him a more likely target for press coverage (and injury) in the NFL.
  
• Willing to block for teammate after the catch but rarely did so in the run game - almost to the point where it appeared he was instructed to stay out of the way.

Bottom Line
Baylor sometimes utilized Coleman in a Harvin or Tavon-Austin-like fashion, sometimes using him out of the backfield or a fly sweep - especially last season (22 carries). Before you jump to the conclusion he is merely a gadget player, let me stop those thoughts immediately; he should become more than that. Even in a conference that has become known for high-flying passing attacks and shootouts (and thus, mediocre defenses), Coleman toyed with Big 12 teams in 2015, or at least until the point Baylor was forced to go to their third-string quarterback at the tail end of the season and rely more heavily on the run game. Coleman's 20-touchdown catch campaign is made all the remarkable by the fact he didn't score in any of the Bears' final five games.

Evaluators will have to decide on whether Coleman's ability to stretch a defense and his ability to make defenders miss outweighs the learning curve he faces to learn a NFL route tree and the occasional drop. While no one likes to see a receiver drop the ball on any play, we can't always reach the conclusion that he has "bad hands". (Perhaps the combination of Baylor's up-tempo offense and receiving 39 percent of the targets in the passing game can wear a guy out?) Big-play ability is hard to find and Coleman has it. There's a reason four teams were willing to give Harvin a shot despite his injury history and reputation as a locker-room cancer; Coleman is the same kind of player without those notable "flaws" (even though he has a tendency to run his mouth a bit much after scoring). The ceiling here is higher than any other receiver in the first round, so the combination of a creative play-caller and capable quarterback could have this guy in the Pro Bowl in no more than 3-4 years, while a club looking for him to be a No. 1 option within the first year or two could be disappointed. If Coleman is willing to embrace his Napoleon complex each and every week like Steve Smith has, he could enjoy that kind of career. If all he does is improve slightly over the course of his NFL career, he should a fine second receiver that will have no problem stretching the field and making defenses pay for showing too much respect to the top option.