On Tuesday, the Kansas City Chiefs executed a trade with the Indianapolis Colts to bring in wide receiver Josh Downs in return for a pair of Day 3 draft selections.
Now that the move is official, the process of integrating Downs into the offense begins. Speaking before Wednesday’s practice, quarterback Patrick Mahomes did not foresee a problem.
Mahomes expects his new target to be on the field as he learns Kansas City’s offense.
“It is realistic,” Mahomes explained, “because we do a great job of kind
of moving guys in and out of every single position, and so guys know the entire concepts of the plays. We’re very detailed with how we call the plays in the huddle, which will help him out a ton. Then when he doesn’t know, being able to talk to me in the huddle or talk to the guys as they’re breaking the huddle, and that usually helps when the guys like each other.
“It’s good to have a guy that you can tell everybody’s going to like and that he has his head on the right way and he’s going to make sure that he’s going to do whatever it takes to win.”
Mahomes has no question about what Downs brings to the Chiefs.
“He does a great job of winning one-on-one matchups,” observed Mahomes, “which is always important. He runs routes really well. He sets them up really well, where he will run a route early in the game that he sets up for another one later in the game.
“Then he has really good feel,” Mahomes said. “Obviously, playing in the system that he has — he has a lot of read-type routes, and you can tell he knows how to get himself open, settle in the right zones, and win versus man when he can. So, I think it will be an easy transition for him to kind of do that stuff in our offense. Then with how we do things, he can play a lot of different positions as we move receivers and tight ends around.”
Speaking after Mahomes, Downs explained the obvious answer to how he will work himself into the system.
“When [Mahomes] throws me the ball, just catch it,” he remarked, “and keep making plays when he throws it to me and do anything I can to learn the offense as fast as possible.
“I don’t want to be a guy that’s asking everybody what the play is or what the formation is,” Downs pointed out. “I feel like that’s when you kind of get left behind. So, I want to do everything I can to learn as fast as possible.”
Mahomes elaborated on the learning ahead of Downs, who he believes is up for the challenge after seeing his attention in Wednesday’s walk through.
“The entire offense will probably take a couple weeks,” he predicted, “but I think what I’ve learned just from meeting Josh is he’s very intelligent. He has a good feel for playing in the NFL, and their scheme is similar to our scheme. Obviously, verbiage and everything like that, but we can utilize him in his role in his spots. At the end of the day, when you get guys in the building, and they’re picking up stuff like we were at walkthrough earlier and he’s picking up stuff quickly, then you can kind of give him more and more. And so, he’s definitely a smart football player, and I think it won’t be a long time until he’s really getting utilized in the offense.”
One of Downs’ new teammates believes the adjustment will be easier than expected.
“It’s not really hard to understand what Pat’s thinking on the field,” wideout Rashee Rice declared on Wednesday. “Once you love the game of football and you’re doing everything you can to get open, Pat’s going to do everything he can to get you the ball. So, as long as you separate and make some room to make sure he can make the throw, which he will. So, as long as he does that, it’ll be easy for him to prepare for the plays.”
Other recent wide receiver trades for the Chiefs — such Kadarius Toney and DeAndre Hopkins — ultimately underwhelmed despite flashy moments. Neither was in Downs’ position, and he has proven himself while still playing for a second contract.
“He’s done it,” Mahomes reiterated of Downs. “You can see that he’s made plays against some of the best defenses in the league and teams that we’ll go up against this season and in the playoffs. Whenever he’s put that on tape, then you know that that is there and so now it’s about us utilizing his skillset within the other guys on the team in order to make the offense even better than we’ve been so far.”
