Josh Downs WR UNC

[Cowboyny]

Our new OC, Schott, went to see him personally at his pro day. Read that he has surprisingly no visits lined up to meet with teams. It was reported he was a national 30 visitor by us.

When I watch him, he reminds me of a younger version of Cole Beasley. Zay Flowers is more the down the field threat, where Downs excels with the underneath passes. He is a mismatch in man coverage due to his quickness.

Think there is an excellent chance he makes it to 58 and would add a new dimension to our passing attack.

 

[cnuball21]

Been a bit of fan of Downs the entire process.

Absolutely love the consistency he’s played with the last 2 years and it the perfect slot prospect for todays NFL.

I’ve said it before but Dak thrived with Beas his rookie season, and this is a bigger / faster / stronger / better version of Beas.

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

Given the amount CeeDee works from the slot, I think they'd prefer a guy who can work outside.

 

[beware_d-ware]

He's one of my biggest dislikes of the entire draft class.

Dude is an exact size-speed match to Cole Beasley, but plays like he's Dez Bryant. It makes for fun tape to watch, but I don't think it's translatable.

If you are going to run that kind of Beasley, Edelman type game where you win on short slot routes all day, your timing needs to be sharp. Break and hit your spot in 2 seconds. And for the hundreds of passes Downs caught at UNC, not a lot of them were timing routes. He just kind of street-balled until he got open, and that won't play against much better athletes.

He is more than quick enough to play a timing based game. But that introduces a little risk to his profile compared to a dude like Addison, whose tape is nothing but crispy timing routes. Addison falls into that "zero chance he sucks" zone. Downs is more like "minimal chance he'll be elite, moderate chance he sucks", and I don't really like that for a 2nd rounder.

 

[baltcowboy]

Our new OC, Schott, went to see him personally at his pro day. Read that he has surprisingly no visits lined up to meet with teams. It was reported he was a national 30 visitor by us.

When I watch him, he reminds me of a younger version of Cole Beasley. Zay Flowers is more the down the field threat, where Downs excels with the underneath passes. He is a mismatch in man coverage due to his quickness.

Think there is an excellent chance he makes it to 58 and would add a new dimension to our passing attack.

The fact that our offensive coordinator looked at him personally is a good sign. Could he make it to the third round?

 

[Malhavoc]

Downs looked about as good as any WR at the Combine. I remeber them commentating about how terrific he looked in all the drills and how he caught the ball. And we came away utterly impressed with his workout. He is absolutely worth taking late in round 2 If he lasts that long

 

[Malhavoc]

The fact that our offensive coordinator looked at him personally is a good sign. Could he make it to the third round?

No.

 

[cnuball21]

He's one of my biggest dislikes of the entire draft class.

Dude is an exact size-speed match to Cole Beasley, but plays like he's Dez Bryant. It makes for fun tape to watch, but I don't think it's translatable.

If you are going to run that kind of Beasley, Edelman type game where you win on short slot routes all day, your timing needs to be sharp. Break and hit your spot in 2 seconds. And for the hundreds of passes Downs caught at UNC, not a lot of them were timing routes. He just kind of street-balled until he got open, and that won't play against much better athletes.

He is more than quick enough to play a timing based game. But that introduces a little risk to his profile compared to a dude like Addison, whose tape is nothing but crispy timing routes. Addison falls into that "zero chance he sucks" zone. Downs is more like "minimal chance he'll be elite, moderate chance he sucks", and I don't really like that for a 2nd rounder.

Man we usually see eye to eye so surprised you don’t like him.

I think the big difference in him and Beas is you get a bigger catch radius due to his height and his 10 yard split is elite (almost .1 seconds faster than Beas) indicating he’s more explosive and has better start stop speed. He’s also a contested catch stud so he plays big.

I love him in the 2nd but we can’t agree on everything.

 

[xwalker]

Our new OC, Schott, went to see him personally at his pro day. Read that he has surprisingly no visits lined up to meet with teams. It was reported he was a national 30 visitor by us.

When I watch him, he reminds me of a younger version of Cole Beasley. Zay Flowers is more the down the field threat, where Downs excels with the underneath passes. He is a mismatch in man coverage due to his quickness.

Think there is an excellent chance he makes it to 58 and would add a new dimension to our passing attack.

If I had the choice of Flowers at #26 or Downs at #58, I would take Downs.

Interesting comparison with Beasley who exceled on routes of 8 yards or less.

Downs seems better on intermediate depth routes in that area of about 12 to 15 yards.

Flowers seems to excel on the 15+ yard routes.

• Beasley
  • Beasley (in the NFL) was really really good on routes of 8 yards or less.
  • His change-of-direction was elite and he was clutch catching the ball on those routes.
  • Beasley's limitation was on longer routes.
  • The ball is in the air longer on the longer routes which gives CBs more time to react to Beasley's cuts.
  • On 3rd and 10, defenders would sit at the sticks & let Beasley catch it short of the sticks.
  • Defenders had confidence they could tackle Beasley before he got the 1st down.

 

[Gaede]

Seems like the kind of WR who does well in Mike's offense

 

[Malhavoc]

If I had the choice of Flowers at #26 or Downs at #58, I would take Downs.

Interesting comparison with Beasley who exceled on routes of 8 yards or less.

Downs seems better on intermediate depth routes in that area of about 12 to 15 yards.

Flowers seems to excel on the 15+ yard routes.

• Beasley
  • Beasley (in the NFL) was really really good on routes of 8 yards or less.
  • His change-of-direction was elite and he was clutch catching the ball on those routes.
  • Beasley's limitation was on longer routes.
  • The ball is in the air longer on the longer routes which gives CBs more time to react to Beasley's cuts.
  • On 3rd and 10, defenders would sit at the sticks & let Beasley catch it short of the sticks.
  • Defenders had confidence they could tackle Beasley before he got the 1st down.

Can you get a player in round 2 if you don’t get the primary target in round 1 ? Can probably get an Edge or CB in round 2, but if they are looking at a plug and play LG probably not. Might explain the interest in Avila.

 

[xwalker]

Can you get a player in round 2 if you don’t get the primary target in round 1 ? Can probably get an Edge or CB in round 2, but if they are looking at a plug and play LG probably not. Might explain the interest in Avila.

Also, they like to be prepared in case a player drops to them.
- i.e. It's possible Avila could drop to #58.

 

[xwalker]

Our new OC, Schott, went to see him personally at his pro day. Read that he has surprisingly no visits lined up to meet with teams. It was reported he was a national 30 visitor by us.

When I watch him, he reminds me of a younger version of Cole Beasley. Zay Flowers is more the down the field threat, where Downs excels with the underneath passes. He is a mismatch in man coverage due to his quickness.

Think there is an excellent chance he makes it to 58 and would add a new dimension to our passing attack.

​	Josh Downs​	Cole Beasley​
Height​	5086​	5077​
Weight​	171​	175​
225 Lb. Bench Reps​	​	17​
Vertical Jump​	38 1/2​	38​
Broad Jump​	10'11"​	10'06"​
20 Yrd Shuttle​	4.15​	4.4​
3-Cone Drill​	6.75​	7.16​
40 Yard Dash (ET)​	4.48​	4.49​
20 Yard (ET)​	2.53​	2.66​
10 Yard (ET)​	1.51​	1.57​
40 Yard Dash (HH)​	4.39​	​
20 Yard (HH)​	2.5​	​
10 Yard (HH)​	1.44​	​

 

[Cowboyny]

​	Josh Downs​	Cole Beasley​
Height​	5086​	5077​
Weight​	171​	175​
225 Lb. Bench Reps​	​	17​
Vertical Jump​	38 1/2​	38​
Broad Jump​	10'11"​	10'06"​
20 Yrd Shuttle​	4.15​	4.4​
3-Cone Drill​	6.75​	7.16​
40 Yard Dash (ET)​	4.48​	4.49​
20 Yard (ET)​	2.53​	2.66​
10 Yard (ET)​	1.51​	1.57​
40 Yard Dash (HH)​	4.39​	​
20 Yard (HH)​	2.5​	​
10 Yard (HH)​	1.44​	​

Downs appears to be a little quicker with those 10/20 yard splits

 

[Malhavoc]

Downs appears to be a little quicker with those 10/20 yard splits

And clearly more dynamic in space.

 

[Cowboyny]

Question I have, excluding JSN, who is the best slot in the draft? Downs, Dell, Mims?

 

[cnuball21]

Downs appears to be a little quicker with those 10/20 yard splits

Yea, 1.49 / 1.57 may not seem like a big difference but pretty massive in how fast a player gets up to speed.

That’s why Downs tape is littered with chunk plays and Beas hardly ever had any.

Beas is actually a pretty bad comp.

 

[cnuball21]

Question I have, excluding JSN, who is the best slot in the draft? Downs, Dell, Mims?

Mims played about 70% outside so not sure I’d label him a slot.

I’d go Downs then Dell.

 

[Cowboyny]

Mims played about 70% outside so not sure I’d label him a slot.

I’d go Downs then Dell.

They have shown interest in all three which suggests they are interested in this type of receiver

 

[darthseinfeld]

If I had the choice of Flowers at #26 or Downs at #58, I would take Downs.

Interesting comparison with Beasley who exceled on routes of 8 yards or less.

Downs seems better on intermediate depth routes in that area of about 12 to 15 yards.

Flowers seems to excel on the 15+ yard routes.

• Beasley
  • Beasley (in the NFL) was really really good on routes of 8 yards or less.
  • His change-of-direction was elite and he was clutch catching the ball on those routes.
  • Beasley's limitation was on longer routes.
  • The ball is in the air longer on the longer routes which gives CBs more time to react to Beasley's cuts.
  • On 3rd and 10, defenders would sit at the sticks & let Beasley catch it short of the sticks.
  • Defenders had confidence they could tackle Beasley before he got the 1st down.

I don't really think Downs is comparable to Beasley. Other than size and that is primarily a slot guy. Beasley made the most out of what he had, but Downs has a significantly bigger set of tools