Josh Downs

More episodes

• Week 2Sep 21, 2026

  Josh Downs — Week 2: Four Third Downs, Four Conversions

  Downs caught seven of nine targets for 72 yards and six first downs, and converted all four third downs thrown his way — four of the five the Colts converted on a pass or a run. His nine targets led the team and were worth plus 8.2 expected points, the most of any Colts receiver, in a 33–30 overtime loss to the Chiefs.

• Week 1Sep 14, 2026

  Josh Downs — Week 1: Two Third-Down Catches, Then a Long Silence

  Downs converted third and three and third and eight on the Colts' opening drive — twenty-five yards, then twelve — and Jonathan Taylor scored three plays later. After that second catch, with twelve thirty-seven left in the first quarter, Daniel Jones threw twenty-two passes before the next one went to Downs, a deep incompletion with four minutes left in a 41–23 loss to the Ravens.

• Camp · Aug 31, 2026Aug 31, 2026

  Josh Downs Camp Update — August 31: The Usage Evidence Never Came

  The roster Indianapolis announced Sunday lists Josh Downs among six receivers, per the Colts' website, and that is the extent of direct reporting on him this week. The finale was supposed to be the summer's first real usage evidence, but Daniel Jones was held out, so the question rolls to Week One untested.

• Camp · Aug 23, 2026Aug 23, 2026

  Josh Downs Camp Update — August 23: Two Highlight Grabs From Jones

  Josh Downs caught a tipped pass for a touchdown and hauled in a deep ball from Daniel Jones in the joint practice against Atlanta — the two charted highlights of a day Jones finished without an incompletion. The Colts also signed Keenan Allen to the same receiver room.

• Camp · Aug 16, 2026Aug 17, 2026

  Josh Downs Camp Update — August 16: Back on the Field, First in the End Zone

  Josh Downs returned from injury for Tuesday's joint practice and caught the touchdown that capped Daniel Jones's first-team two-minute drill against New England's starters. The role question from June is still open, but this is what the good answer would look like.

• 2026 PreviewJul 2, 2026

  Josh Downs 2026 Season Preview — what repeats, what doesn't

  NO CALL — WR47 matches the down-year production; which version of the role returns is a coaching call, not a base rate.

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  Show notes & transcript

  Two seasons ago, Josh Downs commanded a quarter of the Colts' targets whenever he was on the field. Last year that share fell to under 18 percent — and the market has cut his price to receiver 47, pick one-oh-seven. Both moves are defensible. That's exactly the problem.

  The season: 16 games, 58 catches on 88 targets, 566 yards, four touchdowns — 6.8 Half-PPR points a game, 50-fifth among receivers per game, 40-sixth in total. Indianapolis went eight and nine, and Daniel Jones — who had been playing through a broken bone in his leg — tore his Achilles in December, per the team site. The catch rate held at 66 percent, and the team's own recap notes the season began eight and two before the injuries arrived, per the club. Four scores on 88 targets kept the touchdown share modest — nothing lucky propping up even the down year.

  The career whiplash is the story. 20-24: 10 and a half points a game in 14 games, with 25.6 percent of the team's targets when he played. 20-25: six-eight and 17.7. Same player, same team, two different jobs. The rookie year is the tiebreaker's context: 17 games at seven-two — so the 24 leap was a leap, not a baseline.

  What the patterns can and can't settle: targets per game is the stickiest stat we track — point-seven-nine year over year across 954 receiver seasons — but stickiness assumes one signal, and Downs has two that disagree. The library prices continuation; it cannot adjudicate which season was the real one. His touchdown share is modest — point-one-seven, under the fade line — so there's no TD luck to unwind. This is a role question wearing a stat line.

  And the role just opened. Michael Pittman was traded to Pittsburgh in March, per NFL.com — that's 80 catches and a hundred 11 targets out of the building. Alec Pierce re-signed but had ankle surgery this spring, per the team site in April. Tyler Warren will eat, but Shane Steichen said at June minicamp that Downs' role will, quote, step up, with more targets and some reps outside, per the team site. Pierce's ankle, Warren's second season, and the rookie class all pull at the same vacated hundred 11 targets — the room is open, not empty. Jones re-signed on a two-year, 88-million-dollar deal — 50 fully guaranteed, per ESPN — and was throwing in seven-on-sevens by June nine, on track for camp, per the team site. Downs is in a contract year, with no extension as of late June, per Heavy. One more room variable: Anthony Richardson's camp has a trade request looming over the quarterback depth, per NFL.com in May.

  The price: WR47 for the WR46-by-total, WR55-by-rate season he just had — the market is paying for 20-25 and pricing 20-24 at zero. A 40-seventh receiver is a bench player; the 24 version was a weekly starter — the price picks a side. Our verdict: no call. The current price matches the current production almost exactly, and we can't verify which version of the role returns — that's a coaching decision, not a base rate. Caveat spoken: if the 24 usage comes back behind a healthy Jones, this was a two-tier discount hiding in plain sight. The data just can't promise you the usage.

  Watch the slot snaps in September — his 24 season lived there — and Jones's mobility when camp opens. Slot usage is the leading indicator, because that's where the 24 season lived. He's one of your guys? This show covers your whole roster — every player, every week, all season.