Josh

Downs

Downs didn’t exactly suffer an efficiency drought. He still caught four touchdowns, he played well when he was healthy. The Colts simply crowded him off the field after drafting Tyler Warren and watching Alec Pierce have a breakout season. Downs played only 58.4 percent of the offensive snaps through Week 17, and only took over 70 percent of the snaps in two games with Philip Rivers towards the end of a doomed season. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Downs is a plausible WR3 if the Colts move on from Michael Pittman Jr. and/or Pierce. He just needs an every-down role to actually have fantasy value.

Downs managed an 18-yard third-down catch on the sideline that was challenged but upheld to put the Colts in field-goal range. Otherwise, well, the Jaguars sat on everything underneath and challenged Philip Rivers to make deeper throws, and he mostly couldn’t. Downs seems like a better bet to play than the other Colts’ wideouts in Week 18 — assuming the Colts want him to — since he’s under contract in 2026 and still on his rookie deal.

Downs tied with rookie tight end Tyler Warren for the team lead in targets and ranked behind only Alec Pierce in receiving yardage, relied on heavily out of the slot against the heavy zone rates of the 49ers. The 2025 season was not as kind to Downs’ fantasy managers as initially thought heading into the year, with Warren’s breakout a large reason why. He’ll enter the final year of his rookie contract in 2026.

He’ll be in line for a real role on Monday night, though with Philip Rivers under center the best fantasy managers can realistically hope for is a PPR scam with some touchdown equity. Downs is probably best thought of as a WR4/WR5 in Week 16’s slate.

We fully expect Downs to be available on Monday night, but given WR Alec Pierce’s (Achilles) limited session, this is worth keeping an eye on. The Colts’ pass catchers are now vying for opportunities in a low-volume passing attack. Removing one player makes a difference. Stay tuned.

Downs, a natural short-area target for the weak-armed Philip Rivers — who made his first start since 2020 in Week 15 — saw a bump in playing time against the Seahawks, running 26 routes on 31 Colts drop backs. He caught Rivers’ lone touchdown on the day, getting open in the back of the end zone. If Downs maintains this route participation he could be an interesting deep league option in Week 16 against the a Niners secondary that has been generous to opposing slot receivers all season.

Downs is a talented player, stuck in a crowded pass-catching corps, vying for targets thrown by either an unproven rookie quarterback or a 44-year-old who has not played since 2020. He is also facing an elite pass defense. Downs is a WR5 with a very low floor.

The ankle issue is new for Downs, but he has been playing through various injuries all year. A full practice puts him on track to play in Week 15. With Daniel Jones out and one of Riley Leonard or Phillip Rivers drawing the start, Downs will be stuck in the WR5 ranks for Sunday’s game.

He did manage to convert a third-and-long in garbage time, but it’ll be hard to see Riley Leonard making the deeper Colts options worthwhile plays going forward. Downs is probably best approached as a WR5 against the Seahawks in Week 15.

He’ll play his usual role against the Jaguars. He’s a potential FLEX play as Downs has been seeing more work over the past month, but he’s scoreless over his last three games and he’s managed just 57 yards on 15 targets over that span. Daniel Jones’ knee injury may have taken some of the wind out of Downs’ sails.