Looking past spring football and toward next season, Michigan State junior wide receiver Keon Coleman stands tall (and not just because he is 6-foot-4) as a focal point for the offense.

Credited with 58 receptions for 798 yards and seven touchdowns last season, his 13.8 yards per reception put him at 14th in the Big Ten in that category, comparable to Ronnie Bell of Michigan, Luke Lachey of Iowa and Skyler Bell of Wisconsin.

However, unlike those other receivers, Coleman melds a rare blend of size, speed, hands, body control and physicality. While not yet a refined route runner, he has all the tools of a dominant receiver, which are broken down below. With another offseason to refine the technical aspects of the wide receiver position, expectations for Coleman to carry the offense are deservedly high.

In fact, Michigan State offensive coordinator Jay Johnson expects "huge things" out of Coleman in 2023.

The first thing that stands out upon watching Coleman's 2022 tape is the fact that even when he isn't open, he is open. In this regard, he reminds me of the Bilitnikoff Award-worthy receiver from Ohio State, Marvin Harrison Jr.

As mentioned, even when Coleman is covered, he is open. A viable offense can be created solely by chucking the ball at Coleman even when he is blanketed.

Above, Coleman (No. 0) doesn't really run a route, he just leans into a corner, and boxes out the hapless Indiana defender to score. I am an ardent critic of goal-line fades, but with Coleman against any cornerback of lesser height, this is a much higher percentage throw than usual. The general critique of goal-line fades is that there simply isn't enough real estate for a receiver to get behind a defender, so every catch is contested. However, when your offensive player is a contested catch maven like Coleman...it isn't a bad call.

Coleman has exceptionally strong hands and a strong body, seen in the clip above as he goes through a Wisconsin defender to catch a severely under-thrown ball from wide receiver Jayden Reed on a trick play.

Coleman is excellent at using his size and heft to dominate slighter defenders, and is able to hang on through traffic and contact.

Coleman's size and exceptional leaping ability make him an extremely difficult cover. Here, against Michigan, he is able to hang in the air and hang on for a heavily-contested catch against Gemon Green.

Coleman is excellent at coming back for balls, which expands his catch and target radius substantially. Something to watch going forward is that his routes don't really create separation against replacement-level corners. This is largely an academic point, as he is fast enough to hit his landmarks, and physical enough to come down with 50-50 balls.

However, next year when MSU plays Michigan, Coleman will not be covered by Gemon Green, a rangy but inconsistent second cornerback. He will likely be covered by Will Johnson, a 6-foot-2 former five-star freshman all-American who was Michigan's only answer to Quentin Johnson of TCU and Marvin Harrison of OSU. Against such corners, Coleman will have to be able to create separation with his routes to enable him to use his excellent hands.

That said, part of Coleman's extraordinary success on contested catches is his mastery of a subtle yet highly effective push-off move that he deploys at the separation point of routes.

Below, his slight extension of hands can be seen at the edge of the screen, at the top of the route, where he pushes DJ Turner off of him to make the catch. He likely would have made the catch anyway due to his size and body control, but the slight push allows him to get substantial yards after catch, where he straight up outruns Turner, who ran the fastest 40 yard dash time in the 2023 NFL Draft Combine (4.26 seconds).

Usually not called, Coleman's push-off is called here in the clip below versus Washington in large part because the defensive back sold it well, losing his helmet in the process. However, while it doesn't look materially different than the touchdown catch he made against Indiana above, it does draw a flag in this case.

I would predict that in the coming season more defensive backs try to sell offensive pass interference, which will undoubtedly result in more flags against Coleman. However, it will also result in many very funny situations in which incredulous defensive backs protest as Coleman celebrates a first down or touchdown.

On that note...

Michigan Twitter was pretty adamant that the play above was offensive pass interference, but it is of the variety that is never called. He certainly uses the pretext of hand-fighting to create separation, but as the game is called, this is essentially a legal move that I would encourage Keon to use often moving forward.

Here, in a different angle, you can see him push off of Gemon Green just enough to high point the ball. It is subtle, crafty and a devastatingly effective tool in his tool belt.

Another strength of Coleman's is his ability to track and adjust to the ball in the air, contorting his body to make excellent catches. Watch below from the game versus the Badgers for a good example.