The Indianapolis Colts were without wide receiver Josh Downs on Sunday against the Texans after he still works his way back from an ankle injury.
Without Downs, the team to a by-committee approach when it came to who lined up in the slot. During Downs’ rookie season in 2023, 81.3 percent of his snaps came from the slot.
In training camp and in the preseason, when the Colts were without Downs, we often saw rookie AD Mitchell taking the bulk of the slot snaps with the starting offense. However, against the Texans, just about everyone was asked to line up there.
With help from PFF, below is a breakdown of the slot alignment from Week 1.
Alec Pierce: 7 snaps (33%)
Ashton Dulin: 3 snaps (60%)
Michael Pittman: 4 snaps (19%)
Mo Alie-Cox: 2 snaps (20%)
AD Mitchell: 7 snaps (37%)
Kylen Granson: 9 snaps (56%)
Anthony Gould: 2 snaps (100%)
Overall, a pretty even distribution of snaps among the group.
In addition to a variety of players lining up inside, the Colts took a similar approach as well when it came to the motion man–another role routinely filled by Downs.
The benefit of having this many players able to line up inside is the potential matchup problems it can create with a bevy of different sizes and skill sets that defenses have to account for.
With that said, while the Colts were able to hit on a several explosive pass plays on Sunday, the passing game overall lacked consistency. It was very boom or bust.
Getting Downs back in the mix will obviously go a long ways in providing additional stability through the air. He proved to be a reliable target as a rookie with the ability to make defenders miss.
This summer prior to his injury, Downs was putting together a fantastic training camp, sparked by the strong rapport he had built with Anthony Richardson.
The Colts are still in wait-and-see mode when it comes to whether or not Downs will play this Sunday against Green Bay. We will gain some added clarity on Wednesday when the first injury report of the week comes out.