Prolific Downs Ready For A Repeat Performance, And Then Some

CHAPEL HILL – Mack Brown knows a thing or two about outstanding college wide receivers. He has certainly coached and see his share.

So, when Brown was asked this spring about Josh Downs, who exploded onto the scene a year ago earning first-team All-ACC honors, the North Carolina head coach didn’t hesitate, essentially raising the bar on the 5-foot-11 Georgian’s potential.

“Josh Downs is elite,” Brown said.

Tony Grimes has only been in college for two years, but he is regarded as an elite talent at cornerback, and some observers see him as a possible first-round NFL draft pick next spring. He is a pretty good judge of where Downs is as a route-running pass-catcher. They have spent a lot of time intertwined over the last couple of years.

“Josh Downs’ a dude,” Grimes said. “Josh Downs works every day. And not even works every day, he’s comes out to practice like this is his job. This is his business. Plus, he loves it.

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“And working with him, I get the vibe and I get the energy. I get turnt and I get to work at the end of the day. I love working with Josh and he makes me better and I make him better. He will be a playmaker for our team again.”

Downs was every bit the playmaker last fall.

As a true sophomore, he set Carolina records with 101 receptions and 1,335 yards. He caught touchdown passes in eight consecutive games, one off the school record, and Downs hauled in at least eight passes in 11 of UNC’s 13 contests.

For his work, Downs earned a multitude of honors: PFF first-team All-ACC; semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award; PFF national Offensive Player of the Week when he caught eight passes for 203 yards and wo touchdowns in a win over Virginia last September.

Downs zoomed past the expectations part of his career, raising the bar to a level few UNC pass catchers have ever approached. But his value this season won’t be measured by just his numbers. Downs is at a level now in which he can make the rest of the room better, but also to aid Carolina’s young and inexperienced quarterbacks.

Whoever starts behind center in the season opener Aug. 27 at home versus Florida A&M will be doing so in college for the very first time. Having a stat-sheet stuffer and room-enhancer loaded with moxie like Downs lining up all over the place can only make Jacolby Criswell’s and Drake Maye’s jobs easier, whichever one gets the call in the opener.

“I at least try to give them a comfortable outlet,” Downs said. “I always tell them, ‘Worse comes to worse, I’ve always got you. Even if I’m covered, just throw it.’ It won’t be a pick, most likely be a catch.”

Brown cannot underscore the value of having Downs in the mix with so much inexperience at quarterback and receiver. Downs has to be a lot of things for the Tar Heels this season in addition to a stud on the field.

That, however, is where he will impact things the most, his coach says.

“He gives them all kinds of confidence, because he’s going to outrun most people, and he gets wide open a lot, he can catch, and he competes,” Brown said.

Carolina had just six scholarship receivers in the spring. A few players left the program as transfers, and Tylee Craft wasn’t available because he was battling cancer. Two freshmen join the party in the summer giving the receiver room eight guys on scholarship, and the Heels have some interesting options at tight end.

Yet, the receiver room is still quite thin. But Downs doesn’t necessarily see that has a problem.

He believes a positive from the additional work with the small group and quarterbacks is the chemistry they can fortify together. Guys are getting more reps, and he sees that as beneficial moving forward.

“It helps a lot that they don’t have to 15-20 different people, they’re only throwing to like eight different guys,” he said. “We’re getting really comfortable as a group with them.”

Comfort is a key in Carolina’s passing game, and the cornerstone of that is Downs.