The Kansas City Chiefs are 6-2, but 2026 hasn't been a throwback to Patrick Mahomes' glory days.
While new arrival Kenneth Walker III has played a massive role reviving an offense that went 6-11 last season, Mahomes has been decidedly stuck in neutral. His 5.4 air yards per pass attempt is the lowest among NFL starting quarterbacks and the lowest of his career. Injuries have taken would-be deep threat Xavier Worthy and actual deep threat Tyquan Thornton off the field.
We saw what happened when the Seattle Seahawks bottled up Walker in Week 7. Without a threatening run game, the Chiefs' passing game becomes familiar. Without reliable targets beyond an aging Travis Kelce and an inconsistent Rashee Rice, Kansas City needed reinforcements.
They got
one at the brink of the NFL trade deadline Tuesday.
Trade! The Chiefs are acquiring WR Josh Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick from the Colts for 2027 fourth-round and fifth-round picks, sources tell @ringer @netflixsports.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 10, 2026
Kansas City lands a receiver at the buzzer, while Indianapolis keeps loading up for the future. pic.twitter.com/ctYRKBME8w
The Chiefs freed slot savant Josh Downs from the Indianapolis Colts rebuild and placed him squarely in playoff contention. Can Downs survive the whiplash of transitioning from Daniel Jones to Mahomes?
The trade: Kansas City Chiefs receive WR Josh Downs and a 2027 seventh round draft pick. Indianapolis Colts receive 2027 fourth and fifth-round draft picks
The Chiefs need a field-stretching threat. That's not what Josh Downs is. In fact, putting him in a deeper downfield role has led to a decline in his efficiency. His 9.8 air yards per target this fall is the highest of his career. His 1.2 yards per route run (YPRR) are the lowest, as is a 57.9 percent catch rate.
Some of that can be explained away by the Colts of it all, but he also took a step back in 2025 when Indianapolis began the season 8-2. Over that stretch, he averaged only four catches and 35 receiving yards per game. His 1.5 YPRR that year was the second-worst of his career.
What's going to prevent him from being another low-impact target within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage? Rice and Kelce already fill those roles. Rice has run most of his routes this season out of the slot to begin with. Maybe the plan is to put Rice along the sideline and turn him into a deep threat, but that's not his game. He hasn't had a single target this year more than 19 yards downfield. 25 of his 32 targets have come within nine yards of the line of scrimmage.
Fortunately, an Andy Reid-Eric Bieniemy playcalling combination has earned the benefit of the doubt for making this work, even if recent returns have been diminishing. Downs has thrived in run-heavy offenses in the past. Walker's presence has made play-action dropbacks more frequent in Mahomes' arsenal than ever before.
Downs thrives in the space created by sucked-in linebackers. There's reason to believe he'll improve in Kansas City. Whether or not that does anything beyond providing more of the same for the Chiefs' passing offense remains to be seen.
As for the Colts, their current top five wideouts are some combination of Laquon Treadwell, Ashton Dulin, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Deion Burks and Anthony Gould. Tickets at Lucas Oil Stadium this December will not be expensive.
- Chiefs grade: C
- Colts grade: B
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Josh Downs trade grades: Can Colts WR solve the Chiefs' passing woes?
