FLOWERY BRANCH — Colts wide receiver Josh Downs, who was taken in the third round of the NFL draft (79th overall) out of North Carolina, is having a strong rookie campaign.
Downs, who’s 5-10 and 175 pounds, played at North Gwinnett High. He is the Colts’ second-leading receiver, with 57 catches for 631 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s doing a really good job,” Falcons assistant head coach/defense Jerry Gray said.
Downs also returns punts and kickoffs on special teams.
“He can get north (and) south with the football,” Falcons special-teams coordinator Marquice Williams said. “He’s fearless. Quick. Has short-area quickness. He can break arm tackles.”
Downs runs hard for his size.
“He’s not just going to go down on contact,” Williams said. “You could see that last week. He did a good job of fielding some shorter punts. … He was able to run up on some footballs and work sideline-to-sideline and get underneath the football and catch it. I believe he averaged like over 12 yards a return last week.”
On kickoffs, Downs has been back deep, but teams have kicked the ball for touchbacks.
“You can see that if he has the field to work with, he could be dynamic,” Williams said. “He can flip the field and create some explosive returns.”
Downs’ father, Gary, played in the NFL for seven years. His uncle Dré Bly was an 11-year pro. His brother, Caleb, plays for Alabama.
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Credit: Hyosub Shin
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