Josh Downs (born August 12, 2001) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

wide receiver for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

High school career

Downs attended

North Gwinnett High School North Gwinnett High School is a public high school outside the city limits of Suwanee, Georgia, United States. It is part of the district Gwinnett County Public Schools. The school's principal is Nathan Ballantine. History North Gwinnett High ...

Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. Portions of Forsyth and Fulton countie ...

. During his high school career he had 187 receptions for 3,019 yards and 32

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

. He was selected to play in the 2020 All-American Bowl. He committed to the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which r ...

to play college football.

College career

Freshman

As a true freshman at North Carolina in 2020, Downs appeared in 10 games. Playing primarily on special teams, he had seven receptions for 119 yards and three touchdowns. The first touchdown reception of his college career came against N.C. State in Carolina's 48-21 victory. His breakout performance came in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

, where he filled in for

Dyami Brown Dyami Brown ( ; born November 1, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina, where he recorded consecutive 1,000 yard seasons in 2 ...

, who, along with Javonte Williams, Michael Carter, and Chazz Surratt, had opted out of the bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft. Downs caught four passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75 yard touchdown on a broken play that gave the Tar Heels a 27–20 lead early in the fourth quarter. He was the team's leading receiver in the 41-27 loss to

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

Sophomore

Heading into the 2021 season, Downs was projected to be the team's number one receiver. In the season-opening loss against

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, Downs caught eight passes for 123 yards and a touchdown as the Tar Heels failed to mount a successful second half comeback. Two weeks later against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

, he caught eight passes for 203 receiving yards and two touchdowns, setting a career high in the process. Downs' 203 receiving yards against the Cavaliers were the eighth most in a single game in Tar Heel history. Against Wake Forest, he only caught four passes for 35 yards, both season lows. However, his 35 receiving yards against the Demon Deacons made him just the seventh player in school history to gain 1,000 or more receiving yards in a single season. With eight receptions against

Wofford Wofford may refer to: People with the surname *Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford, 1931–2019), American writer *Dan Wofford, American politician *Harris Wofford (1926–2019), U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, 1991-1995 *James C. Woffor ...

, Downs moved into second place behind

Ryan Switzer Ryan Switzer (born November 4, 1994) is a former American football wide receiver and punt returner. Switzer played college football at North Carolina and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round (133rd overall) of the 2017 NFL D ...

for most receptions in a single season as a Tar Heel with 90. In the regular season finale, a 34–30 loss against

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest u ...

, Downs broke both Switzer's single season receptions record and Hakeem Nicks' single season receiving yards record. He recorded three more catches in the

Duke's Mayo Bowl The Duke’s Mayo Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2002. The game currently features a matchup between a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC ...

loss to

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

, finishing his record-breaking 2021 season with 101 catches for 1,335 yards and eight touchdowns.

Junior

Solidified as the Tar Heels' top receiver after his record-setting sophomore season, Downs is once again a featured piece in the Tar Heel offense. He was named to the preseason All-ACC team at the wide receiver and specialist (punt returner) positions, and was selected to the preseason AP All-American second-team at the wide receiver position. In the season opener against FAMU, Downs recorded 9 catches for 78 yards and two scores. On his final catch of the game, Downs was injured and missed the next two games against

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

and

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

. He returned against

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

, and caught 5 passes for 32 yards and two touchdowns in the Tar Heels' 45–32 loss. Against Miami, Downs caught another touchdown pass, moving him into to a tie for tenth place all time in Carolina history with 16 receiving touchdowns. He continued to post solid statistics the rest of the regular season, recording four games with 11-plus receptions, and recording another 1,000 yard receiving season. Against Wake Forest, he caught three touchdown passes, moving him to second all-time behind

Quinshad Davis Quinshad Davis (born May 24, 1994) is a former American football wide receiver who is currently an offensive assistant at Georgia State. He played college football at North Carolina, where he holds the school record for career touchdown recep ...

for UNC career touchdown receptions with 22. In what was his final game as a Tar Heel, the 2022 ACC Championship Game against Clemson, Downs caught 11 passes for 100 yards in the 39–10 loss to the Tigers. Downs finished his Carolina career with 2,483 receiving yards (the fourth most in school history), 202 career receptions (third most at UNC), and multiple school records at the wide receiver position. He declared for the NFL draft following conference championship week, opting out of the

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has b ...

in the process.

Statistics

Personal life

Downs' father, Gary, played college football for

and is now an assistant coach. His uncle,

Dré Bly Donald André Bly (born May 22, 1977) is a former American football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football for the University of North Carolina (UNC), and earned All-American ...

, also played with the Tar Heels before spending 11 years in the NFL.

References

External links

*
North Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downs, Josh Living people People from Suwanee, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football wide receivers North Carolina Tar Heels football players 2001 births