Before the 2024 NFL season began, ESPN’s Seth Walder made a bold prediction for each team, including the Indianapolis Colts.
Now roughly one-third of the way through the season, Walder has gone back and either revised those predictions if needed or determined that he’s going to ride out the rest of the season with his original prediction.
For the Colts, Walder came into the season predicting that Kwity Paye and Laiatu Latu would combine for 20-plus sacks this season. However, with Paye missing time, the two are currently at just 1.5 sacks.
So Walder is scrapping that one and moving on to something new.
Now Walder’s bold prediction for the Colts is that Josh Downs will have 1,000 receiving yards even with missing the first two games of the season.
Here is a snippet of what Walder had to say:
“Downs had a large enough sample to debut on the Receiver Scores leaderboard this week, and he came in with an 82 open score after having 26 targets in three games.”
Over the last two games in particular, Downs has been a go-to target for Joe Flacco. In that stretch, he’s been targeted 21 times, catching 17 of those passes for 151 yards and a touchdown–leading the team in both targets and receptions.
On the season, Downs has 173 receiving yards. To get to the 1,000 yard mark, he has to average 69 receiving yards per game for the rest of the year. A very doable number.
Downs is currently on the Colts’ injury report ahead of their Week 6 matchup against the Tennessee Titans. He did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday as he works through a toe injury.