How Josh Downs met Anthony Richardson

[JAFF]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...n/70186915007/

INDIANAPOLIS -- Josh Downs was waiting to check into his hotel in Indianapolis ahead of his first Colts minicamp practice when he shot his new quarterback a text.

He was ready to run some routes.

By 8 p.m., he got a text back.

"Let's go," Richardson said.

As the sun was setting, the two draft picks took their first reps together. For a half hour, they stood flat-footed on the black pavement of the parking lot, positive not to risk any twisted ankles before the real practices arrived. But even in those flicks of the wrist and short lobs, Downs saw something.


"His arm is crazy," he said. "He's got a tight spiral."

Downs had never met Richardson before. He'd only come to understand him through the highlight packages and the pre-draft talk about accuracy and youth and mechanics. At 20 years old but standing 6-foot-4 and 244 pounds, Richardson is the oversized but unpolished inverse of this 5-9, 171-pound receiver.

Now, is about building a connection that brings out the best in them.

Friday's rookie minicamp represented the first stab at the playbook Shane Steichen is installing.

More:Why guard Emil Ekiyor Jr. went from projected 4th-round draft pick to Colts UDFA

Josh Downs caught more than 2,300 yards worth of passes the past two years at the University of North Carolina before he was drafted in the third round by the Indianapolis Colts.
That playbook features more timing designs and option routes than he saw in North Carolina's RPO-based approach. He hopes the repetition within that kind of set system can unleash the short-area quickness he's made his bread and butter, with 10- and 20-yard splits that rank in the top 5% of receivers in the history of the NFL

"They expect me to do a lot of option routes, a lot of crossing routes, a lot of drags and underneath stuff and then sometimes over the top," Downs said. "Similar to T.Y. (Hilton), working over the middle is where I thrive at. I love working over the middle. A lot of people don't like it. You're going to take hits here and there, but that's where the money's at."

These settings feature little opposing defense but also no chemistry and a desire to cycle through reps. But no player stood out like Downs did, inhaling pass after pass across the middle, reminiscent of the back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with two different quarterbacks at North Carolina that got him to this moment.



The wait took longer than expected for a player who ranks in the top five in North Carolina history in touchdowns and receptions. Downs had zero pre-draft visits with teams after the Browns canceled theirs. He was considered a clean prospect in medicals, character and playing style, yet when the third round rolled around and the clock approached 10 p.m. last Friday, his phone stayed silent, with dozens of friends and family members watching.

Downs realized quickly what was happening: The question teams had for him was the one thing he can't change.

"It's been like that my whole life, being undersized. People tend to doubt me," Downs said. "I like being the underdog. I feel like in those situations, people expect less, so I just go out there and do more."

At 5-9 and 171 pounds, Downs is 11 pounds lighter than any of the other 60 players at Colts rookie minicamp. He ranks in the bottom 10% in size among all receivers ever to compete at the combine.


Those questions can burn white hot inside when you grow up like Downs did, catching everything in sight and never being stopped. His father, Gary, played college football at North Carolina State. His uncle, Dre Bly, was a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback for the Lions. And Downs was a natural, becoming an All-State high school football player, then a top-100 national recruit, then a two-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference player. Defenses started to key on him, quarterbacks came and left and the production just stayed the same.


So when his phone finally buzzed Friday and Chris Ballard was on the other end, all Downs could do was let the tears stream down his face. A family member shouted, "Praise God! Hallelujah!" and Downs had to step away from the crowd in order to find his own words.

"You will not regret this," Downs said, choking back tears. "I swear to you."

Ballard has been making these calls as a general manager for seven drafts now, and he's never had a more emotional exchange.


"You can tell he's got a little chip on him," Ballard said.

When he hung up, Downs raised his head and let the hysteria wash over. Family members began pouring drinks on him, soaking his white T-Shirt as he stared ahead with the look of a young man coming for something.


It's the same calculated look he flashed at his first minicamp, when asked once again about the size. It's a measurement that Colts normally care about with wide receivers more than any team.

They didn't with him.

[apballin]

Definitely got some fire, I like it

Exciting times