At UNC football pro day, Josh Downs puts on air show with QB Drake Maye throwing passes

They were supposed to run only seven to 10 routes.

Yet North Carolina receivers Josh Downs and Antoine Green, during their final live audition for NFL teams before next month’s draft, ran about 20 of them with current UNC qarterback Drake Maye delivering the passes — until receivers coach Lonnie Galloway told them to stop.

About 45 scouts and player personnel types representing all 32 NFL teams — even one British Columbia Lions logo from the Canadian Football League was spotted — turned out to watch the Tar Heels’ pro day that also included offensive lineman Asim Richards and nose tackle Ray Vohasek on Monday at the team’s indoor practice facility on campus.

“This is really like my last hurrah in the building, I got a few more routes in with my quarterback,” Downs said. “We weren’t even supposed to do 20-plus routes, but once me and Drake and ‘Toine get in that rhythm, it’s just back-to-back-to-back and we just going and going. We were still going to go, but Galloway was like, ‘Alright, shut it down, you’re good.’”

Downs is used to going on until someone else tells him to stop. He got together with Maye on Friday to catch passes in preparation for Monday’s pro day.

That drive is what makes Downs likely to be the highest player picked among the former UNC players who worked out. Downs led the Heels in receiving in each of the past two seasons and set single-season records for both receptions and receiving yards.

“We were supposed to stick to the script, but we ended up running like 25 routes,” Downs said. “And Drake was like, ‘Hey, you’re good, you don’t need no more.’ That’s how I usually go, somebody’s got to tell me to calm it down, cool out.”

Down’s said he’s been told he’ll be picked somewhere among the first 25-50 overall picks. During the draft combine, he said he’d interviewed with between 15-20 teams. He said he spoke with the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans on Sunday night.

In 2022, Downs became just the second player in program history to have back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. The other player, Dyami Brown, who is now with the NFL’s Washington Commanders, was on hand Monday to cheer on his former teammates.

Downs opted out of Carolina’s appearance in the Holiday Bowl to begin training. He spent time in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at XPE Sports with several of the nation’s top receivers coming out this year, including Jordan Addison, who played at Pitt before transferring to USC last season.

Neither Downs nor Green ran the 40-yard dash on Monday, only Richards and Vohasek did. Dressed in athletic pants and a t-shirt with gloves, Downs ran intermediate and long routes, and in the red zone, too. Neither Downs nor Green dropped any of the nearly 50 passes Maye threw.

“A lot of stuff y’all have been seeing the past few years, they’re seeing the same things,” Downs said. “I tell them that they’re getting the best receiver in the draft, first and foremost, but they’re getting a versatile player as well. I feel I can make plays on all levels of the field. I’m not a one trick pony.”

Downs chuckled when asked about the Carolina Panthers’ interest, because at the conclusion of the on-field pro day activities, he said he was going to take the Wonderlic test at their request.

The Wonderlic is designed to gauge cognitive abilities — like problem solving and decision making — in prospects. The NFL stopped using it officially at its annual draft combine last year, in part, due to criticisms for having racial bias.

“I wasn’t gonna do it at first, my agent was like, ‘It’s optional,’” Downs said. “He didn’t want me to take it. So I was not going to take it, but then my dad, he took it when he was coming out. So he was like, ‘Man, you can kill it. Go do it, it’ll help you.’ So I’m about to go take it.”

Downs’ dad, Gary, starred at running back for N.C. State before playing six years in the NFL from 1994-2000. Gary Downs said he rose at 3:30 a.m. and made the drive from Suwanee, Ga., to Chapel Hill to watch his son at his 8:30 a.m. start.

Josh Downs said he’d call his dad during halftime of games sometimes to get his opinion on how he could be better. That continued Monday, too.

“He’s on the field over there right now just giving me tips, giving me pointers,” Downs said. “Being my critic as well, so he helps me out a lot of ways. I like having him in my corner.”

Downs said he’ll watch the draft from home with friends and family. Although there’s a chance he could get taken on Day 1, he said he’ll probably have a draft party for the second day to be sure.

“It’s going to be a long month, just because I’m going to be waiting until that day, a month from today, April 27,” Downs said. “I’m definitely excited for it because as a kid, I remember watching the draft, and I’m definitely gonna cry. I’m expecting to cry right now on the night when I get drafted. It’s going to be memorable.”