Steve Smith Sr. mercilessly rips Keon Coleman: ‘You can’t teach a dog how to bark’

Steve Smith Sr. has never been one to sugarcoat his analysis, and he sure as hell didn’t start when he took aim at Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman this week.

On the latest episode of his 89 with Steve Smith Sr. podcast, the Carolina Panthers great spent roughly 10 minutes dissecting Coleman’s game film from this season, breaking down his route running, his inability to create separation, and his overall effectiveness as an outside receiver.

“Well, the short version: nothing,” Smith told co-host James Palmer when asked what he’s seen from Coleman since Week 1. “I haven’t seen anything from him because he hasn’t had the opportunities, because opportunities don’t make themselves available. He just doesn’t get open fast enough. Now, Josh Allen looks his way… When it’s press coverage, Josh looks over there, but Josh gets off of him very fast. And some people, like they do, jump in the comments and say, ‘Well, he was open on this play, but Josh got off of him.’ That means he’s taking too long. That means the quarterback doesn’t have confidence in your ability to get there.”

Since Coleman’s 112-yard breakout performance against Baltimore in Week 1, he’s averaged 20.8 yards per game over the last six weeks, according to Bills on SI. His yards per reception have dropped from 19.2 as a rookie to 9.9 this season. Of his 27 catches in 2025, only three have gone for more than 20 yards.

Smith came armed with route-tree data, contested-catch percentages, and yards-after-catch numbers that painted a picture of a second-year receiver who isn’t doing much of anything to help Josh Allen and the Bills’ struggling passing attack. The stats back up what Smith saw on tape, and what he saw on tape wasn’t encouraging for a guy Buffalo traded up to select at No. 33 overall in last year’s draft.

“And you remember, I get accused of people who are taller than 6-feet, ‘Oh, Steve, you’re jealous,'” Smith continued. “My man, out of 12 contested targets, he got four. That is less than 30 cents. The five stick of gum is 35 cents right now…. When you got halitosis, those five sticks of gum can help and improve and higher your percentage of not walking out the club lonely, and he ain’t got a chance.”

Going through Coleman’s route tree this season, he noted the Florida State product hasn’t been asked to run a comeback route — a telling indictment of either Coleman’s abilities or the Bills’ confidence in him. Maybe both. More damning: 35 percent of Coleman’s receiving snaps have consisted of him running go routes.

Buffalo’s offense has struggled in part because defenses don’t respect Coleman’s ability to win on the outside, forcing Allen to spread the ball around to Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, Dalton Kincaid, and, occasionally, Coleman when the matchup is right. The Bills are 5-2, but their passing attack has been limited by the fact that their supposed No. 1 receiver can’t consistently get open.

“He doesn’t have the ability to be a true No. 1, and he’s not,” Smith said. “He ain’t the guy. Can’t get separation. Can’t get off the jam. Doesn’t have it. You can’t teach a dog how to bark. You either got it or you don’t.”

Coleman saw the comments and responded on social media.

This isn’t Smith’s first rodeo going after a young receiver who can’t get open. Two seasons ago, he eviscerated Jerry Jeudy on NFL Network’s GameDay Morning, calling him out for lazy routes and poor effort while he was still with the Denver Broncos. That criticism sparked a multi-day back-and-forth that got personal enough that Smith eventually apologized, though not before Jeudy fired back on social media, calling Smith’s take “clickbait” and accusing media members of trying to tear down players for engagement.

And much like Jeudy did, Coleman has a chance to prove Smith wrong Sunday when the Bills host the Kansas City Chiefs.