Coleman was a prolific producer at Lincoln High School in Stockton, California. he rushed for over 3,000 yards and 58 touchdowns on only 334 carries in his high school career. His HS recruiting profile mentioned that he would try to lose some weight to get down to 190-195 pounds, which sounds odd given the success he would later find as a human bowling ball. His production earned him a high three-star recruiting ranking from 247 Sports and attention from schools across the country. He named a final five of Arizona, Tennessee, Arizona State, Colorado State, and Oregon State before finally choosing to sign with the Wildcats.

Coleman played meaningful snaps as a true freshman for Jedd Fisch in Tucson. He was second on the team in carries with 75, trailing veteran Michael Wiley for the team lead. He showed promise with 372 yards (5.0 YPC) and 4 TDs. Coleman usurped Riley as the #1 back the following year, putting up 871 yards on 128 carries and finding paydirt five times. He also caught 25 passes for 283 yards. His production trended up as the season progressed. He carried the ball only eight times total in the three non-conference games, then averaged 92 yards per game over the next eight. He didn’t run as often in blowout wins in the last two games, but Coleman was clearly poised to become a bell cow running back going into his junior year.

Of course, Arizona’s 10-win season earned Jedd Fisch a new job at Washington. Coleman joined several of his teammates on the trip up the West Coast. With Dillon Johnson graduating and Cam Davis coming back from injury, Coleman immediately slotted in atop the depth chart. He took a big step forward with 1053 yards and 10 TDs for the Dawgs. The workload was probably larger than what Fisch would prefer, but with Davis continuing to have health issues and Adam Mohammed a true freshman, the Huskies had to ride Coleman. Coleman decided to come back to Seattle for his senior year and it was another good one. Through the season’s first eight games, Coleman averaged 80.4 yards on 5.1 yards per carry and found the end zone 13 times. He also tallied 316 receiving yards through that stretch. Unfortunately, he started to have problems with his left knee and played sparingly for the rest of the schedule. Development from Mohammed as his backup allowed the Huskies to play Coleman’s recovery conservatively. To his credit, he came back strong in the bowl game and put up 85 yards and a TD on 12 carries.

The phrase you see most often in Coleman scouting reports is “bowling ball.” He has a low center of gravity. He’s powerful. He runs with purpose. Putting it all together, he’s a runner who is extremely hard to bring down in one-on-one situations. He had 27 touchdowns in his two years with UW, which were a product of his ability to push defenders backward in small spaces. He was a reliable pass-catching threat out of the backfield with 87 catches for his career. Lastly, Coleman ran the ball 552 times in his collegiate career and fumbled only one time. His ball security is about as good as anyone could hope for.

Coleman’s forty-yard dash time (4.50 seconds) shows that his top-end speed is less than elite for the pro game. He also played through nagging injuries at times in both ‘24 and ‘25 for Washington. Whether it was his natural athleticism or the wear and tear of playing running back in the Big 10, Coleman was notably less explosive later in both seasons. For running backs, when explosiveness starts to go, it rarely comes back. Coleman looked great in UW’s bowl game at the end of ‘25, so there’s no reason to assume he has already lost the necessary boost to succeed in the NFL. However, the margins are fine for him to start with and he will need to stay in great condition to reach his top end potential.

NFL Draft Buzz notes that Coleman’s average ranking is the 88th overall player in the draft and the #5 running back. That ranking would put him in the 3rd round of the draft, which is exactly where the majority of mock drafts have placed him. Various scouting services have compared him to Blake Corum, David Montgomery, and Kyren Williams. Looking further back, I have seen a bit of Maurice Jones-Drew when Coleman is at his best.