An aortic heart disease that required nine hours of open-heart surgery wasn’t enough to dissuade Xavier Coleman from working his way back into shape and strapping on the shoulder pads again to ultimately emerge five years later as one of the best-kept secrets of the upcoming draft.
Fresh off a successful pro day that saw the 5-foot-11, 190-pound cornerback post a 4.47 forty and dazzle NFL personnel on hand with a quantum leap of 40 inches in his vertical, Coleman’s name has been picking up steam.
The Portland, Oregon-born prospect fashions himself as an old-school cover specialist that prefers to suffocate his adversary in tight man coverage rather than employ a safer press-bail technique that typically affords a receiver more of an opportunity to haul in a short delivery in hopes of breaking a tackle and tacking on yards.