Insider: A healthy, improved Josh Downs shouldn't be overlooked in Colts offense

INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Downs probably hasn’t been talked about enough this offseason.

From the Colts signing Michael Pittman Jr. to a long-term extension to the usage of Alec Pierce to the drafting of Adonai Mitchell, the conversation around the Indianapolis wide receivers has been focused on the need for explosive plays from the outside.

But if his rookie year is any indication, Downs is likely going to be a big part of this Colts passing game.

Downs broke the franchise’s record for rookie receptions by hauling in 68 passes, second-most on the team behind Pittman, produced 771 yards and two touchdowns, all while battling a knee injury he suffered in the spring that lingered through the season.

“Last year I was hurt pretty much the whole offseason,” Downs said. “This year, I’m healthy, so I really can improve my game, improve my athleticism, improve my strength.”

He also has a year’s worth of information banked in his brain.

While he was more NFL-ready than most receivers as a rookie, Downs still had plenty to learn from going up against NFL defenses last season.

“Slot receiver ends up being a position where the more you understand what the other guys on offense are doing and what the guys on defense are doing, the better you can play,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “You have certain routes where it makes sense as a coaching staff to give him a few reads.”

Downs was already a natural at reading defenses when the Colts drafted him, but experience sharpens just about everybody.

“Josh is really intelligent; he likes talking through that stuff,” Cooter said. “Josh is doing a good job of sort of soaking up, learning a lot of that information. That’s the benefit of going from being that rookie to that second-year player.”

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And the role Downs plays is critical to any offense.

While the Colts are focused on creating more explosive plays this offseason, there are far more chain-moving catches in the NFL than chunk plays, a reality that gets driven home more every year as defenses increasingly shift to shell coverages designed to take away the big play.

Even the San Francisco 49ers, who led the NFL with 75 passes of 20 yards or more last season, produced explosive plays on only 22.3% of their completions.

An offense, and particularly an offense with a young quarterback like Anthony Richardson, needs receivers who can get open quickly, make catches over the middle and move the chains. Right now, most of the outside world is focused on Mitchell, the team’s second-round pick, but the reality is Mitchell’s not the only receiver on the roster with upside.

Far from it.

“Watching Downs take another step, having Pierce take another step, those are going to be important for us to have success,” general manager Chris Ballard said.

Downs will get chances to make explosive plays.

Cooter, Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen and the rest of the Colts offensive staff proved last season that they know how to get their slot receiver open on intermediate and deep routes, in addition to the short stuff, illustrated by a 59-yard touchdown against Cleveland and a 50-yard grab against the Raiders.

But in a receiving corps that has two players, Pierce and Mitchell, likely to be focused on the downfield throw initially, Downs has the ability to carry some of the heavy load that rests on Pittman’s shoulders, and he’s been working hard to take his game to the next level.

“I feel like I have some little things I can improve on in the route releases,” Downs said. “I left some plays on the field last year, but everybody does that. I looked at those plays. I’m trying to identify coverages better – things like that.”

There is plenty more that Downs has been trying to improve this offseason.

“Finishing my routes, how I keep my stride in routes, being more versatile,” Downs said.

The knee, and the rigors of the NFL schedule, limited Downs’ production in the second half of the season.

The Indianapolis slot receiver caught 40 passes for 473 yards and two touchdowns in his first eight games, before the injury became a significant concern. Battling the knee the rest of the way, Downs caught 28 passes for 298 yards in the second half of the season.

If he can replicate that first-half production this year, Downs would be headed for a season of 80-plus catches and potentially 1,000 yards.

The kind of season nobody would be able to overlook.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: A healthy, improved Josh Downs could be key to Colts offense