Will Josh Downs Play in Week 9? (2023 Fantasy Football)

Week 8 has arrived! Unfortunately, the injury watch for fantasy managers is also here. Players who appear on the Friday injury report and haven’t practiced much during the week can often lead to trepidation for managers trying to make lineup decisions and/or waiver claims. Don’t fret, though – FantasyPros is here to provide you with all of the latest news and updates on the players who are questionable heading into the weekend. Here is the latest on Colts’ WR Josh Downs, who is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers due to a knee injury.

Josh Downs (knee) questionable for Week 9

Josh Downs (knee) remained limited in practice on Friday. He is officially questionable to play against the Panthers on Sunday. (Source: Indianapolis Colts on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Downs has been fantastic over the last four weeks, catching 23 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns. The Colts and fantasy managers alike are hoping that the rookie will be able to play this Sunday, though we might not get official confirmation on his status until 90 minutes before kickoff.

What the Experts Are Saying

Josh Downs (WR – IND)

TBD. Data projects 60% chance of playing. Mid-week additions to the injury report have a relatively high chance of sitting, so we’d have backups locked and loaded. If active, data suggests only a mild performance dip for Downs.

Deepak Chona, MD


Josh Downs man/zone splits (per Fantasy Points Data)

Coverage Tgt % AY % YPRR First Read %
zone 18.6% 19.7% 2.10 18.5%
man 21.3% 27.0% 1.93 22.4%

Josh Downs: Downs has been a pleasant surprise this season as the WR35 in fantasy. Downs has been a top-36 wide receiver in five of his last six games (WR32, WR18, WR30, WR4, WR29). He might not be the team’s leader against zone, but he has still performed well. He has an 18.6% target share, a 19.7% air-yard share, 2.10 YPRR, and an 18.5% first-read share against zone. In his last three games, Downs has four red zone targets. Downs will run about 83% of his routes against Troy Hill (63.6% catch rate and 56.8 passer rating). Downs picked up a knee injury this week. He was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday and has been listed as questionable. Week 9 Positional Value: WR3

Derek Brown

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio