Josh Downs

Downs is a dynamic athlete who posted monster production numbers in his final two years at North Carolina. He posted stat lines of 101-1335-8 in 2021 and backed that up with a 94-1029-11 year in 2022. He also contributed on special teams with a 13.3 punt return average on 10 returns in 2022.

When you turn on Downs' film, the confidence and athleticism jumps off the screen. He plays bigger and that becomes clear when you see his toughness coming down with contested catches. He has a natural feel for snapping routes off in the open spaces in zone coverage, while his footwork and change of direction make it tough for any defender in man coverage to stick with him.

When he has the ball in his hands in space, he looks like a natural runner who understands angles and evades defenders. Downs' has the short area speed and displayed the capability of having long speed in some instances.

Despite his toughness and competitiveness, as primarily a slot receiver, you'd like to see more from him in the middle of the field. While his footwork allows him to get off the LOS routinely, he did struggle to get off the line against physical press corners.

Downs wasn't asked to have an extensive route tree in his arsenal in college and he will have to polish his route running while expanding that. He leaves some meat on the bone on his routes. Downs was a non factor as a run blocker.

With Downs play style and his track record of production, he can be an impact player in the NFL. His skillset will allow teams to put him all over the field on offense.