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Old 05-19-2023, 09:25 AM
JAFF JAFF is offline
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Default Insider: Why Reggie Wayne fought for Colts to draft rookie WR Josh Downs

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...s/70232228007/

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INDIANAPOLIS — Days after the draft, Reggie Wayne was already on a Zoom call with Josh Downs, taking an hour and a half to go through the Colts’ playbook, prepping the team’s third-round pick for his first taste of the NFL at the team’s rookie minicamp.

The rookie heard the message loud and clear. Wayne wants him to be ready, to challenge the older, more established receivers on the roster right from the start.

Downs is his guy, the guy Wayne liked more than the rest of the NFL.

Colts Insider:From parking lot throws to a busy 1st Colts practice: How Josh Downs met Anthony Richardson


Wayne thinks the North Carolina product can bring something special to the Indianapolis offense.

“I thought he was the best receiver at the Combine,” Wayne said. “I just think the way he ran his routes was effortless, smooth, and actually, what I saw at the Combine was not what I saw on tape. On tape … things looked a little bit more controlled, but at the Combine, you saw his speed.”


Wayne walked up to Downs after that workout, told him he was the best receiver in his group.

He meant it.

Wayne had watched North Carolina’s film already by that point, but the combine workout sent the legendary Colt back into the tape, confirming that the route-running he’d seen on the Lucas Oil turf had shown up when the Tar Heels let Downs go to work.


Downs is only 5-9, 171 pounds, but Wayne believed the skills he saw would play.

“I’m not necessarily a tiny-guy receiver, but this draft was full of smaller guys, and he stood out,” Wayne said. “I put an asterisk by his name and then I came into my office and really dove in deep, did my evaluations.”
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