#11

Josh Downs

Former wide receiver at North Carolina. 2022: 94 catches, 1,029 receiving yards, 11 TD.

WR · North Carolina · Jr. · #11

5′10″ · 175 lb · Suwanee, GA

CFB Index 87 · #13 of 488 WRsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamIndianapolis — drafted 2023, Rd 3, Pick 16, #79 overall

Recruiting

4★

WR recruit

No. 95 nationally · Signed with North Carolina

Career night11 rec · 154 yds · 3 TDat Wake Forest (FBS) · W 36-34

Top 1% catches game since 2021.

Wow. Green, Nesbit, now Downs. Nice. Not a cursed gamer/CFB game thread · ▲ 14His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at North Carolina. 2022: 94 catches, 1,029 receiving yards, 11 TD.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to North Carolina in 2020.
Drafted round 3 by the Indianapolis in 2023.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at North Carolina, 2,483 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — drafted at #79 overall by Indianapolis.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

The week the volume broke through — put up 203 yds vs Virginia.Virginia · W 59-392021

20203 games

Signed with North Carolina4-star out of North Gwinnett

202112 games

The role got bigger.

All-ACCfirst

202211 games

All-ACCfirst

2023

Drafted by Indianapolisround 3, pick 79

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#95 national

CFB

College

North Carolina

2020–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #79

Indianapolis · 2023

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

9 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-ACC · 1ST TEAM

All-ACC 1st team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2022

1 coach

2020–2022

Mack Brown

North Carolina

Played his entire career under Mack Brown.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

IndianapolisEntering 4th NFL season

#79Rd 3 · Pick 16

IndianapolisEntering 4th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Mack Brown — 23-16 over that span.

2020North Carolina8-4HC: Mack Brown · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021North Carolina6-7HC: Mack Brown · Run-leaning

2022North Carolina9-5HC: Mack Brown · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

87All-Conference level #13 of 488?

High confidence11 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (99th percentile). Strength: rec tds (98th percentile). Concern: yards / catch (24th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#169 / 636 · 74th pct

9.5%

Catch rate#265 / 636 · 58th pct

81.0%

EPA / target#313 / 636 · 51st pct

0.70

Explosive rate#322 / 636 · 49th pct

12.9%

Yards / catch#424 / 636 · 33rd pct

10.9

Box-score rates (6)

Receptions#6 / 550 · 99th pct

Rec TDs#7 / 550 · 98th pct

Rec yards#26 / 550 · 95th pct

1029

Fumbles lost#1 / 223 · 84th pct

Long catch#338 / 550 · 37th pct

Yards / catch#414 / 550 · 24th pct

10.9

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

48th → 51st percentile

Explosive rate

56th → 49th percentile

Catch rate

38th → 58th percentile

TD rate

48th → 74th percentile

Yards / catch

59th → 33rd percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	7.6	73.4	9.6	0.9
Road4g	10.2	129	12.7	1.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	7.4	85.0	11.1	1.0
Weeks 8+6g	9.5	101	10.4	1.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bill Belichick

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

87 · #13 of 488 WRs

Former four-star. Now #13 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	North Carolina	94	1,029	10.9	11	--
2021	North Carolina	101	1,335	13.2	8	--
2020	North Carolina	7	119	17.0	3	--
Career		202	2,483	12.3	22	--

Season	Team
2022	North Carolina	--	--	--	133	--
2021	North Carolina	--	--	--	149	--
2020	North Carolina	1	-3	--	--	--
Career		1	-3	--	282	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2022

W 56–24

vs Florida A&M

9 rec · 78 yds · 2 TD

Dominant 32-point win at home against Florida A&M.

With D. Maye — 294 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 92.7 · 55 rush yds (4 car) · O. Hampton — 101 rush yds (14 car) · 2 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 5 · Virginia Tech · 2&14 · Q3 · EPA +3.51Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 33 yds Josh Downs fumbled, recovered by NCaro Gavin Blackwell for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Virginia Tech · 4&7 · Q2 · EPA +3.37Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 24 yds to the VTech 19 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Virginia · 3&8 · Q3 · EPA +3.28Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 19 yds for a TD, (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 6 · Miami · 4&9 · Q2 · EPA +3.12Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 22 yds to the MiaFl 15 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Duke · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.02Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 38 yds to the Duke 1 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Notre Dame · 4&4 · Q1 · EPA +2.98Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 4 yds for a TD, (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 11 · Wake Forest · 3&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.88Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 12 yds to the WFrst 38 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Miami · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.88Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 15 yds for a TD, (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 10 · Virginia · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.85Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 32 yds to the Virg 24 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Virginia · 3&9 · Q2 · EPA +2.84Drake Maye pass complete to Josh Downs for 11 yds to the Virg 47 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week