In a very casual sense, the addition of Keenan Allen to the Indianapolis Colts is the kind of roster move that felt like it could be a net negative for Josh Downs.
Allen and Downs both feel more like possession-oriented receivers rather than down-the-field threats, and so it was always going to be intriguing to see how they worked when on the field at the same time.
In Week 1, a first glance makes it seem like Allen won the battle. He had six catches (on six targets), albeit only for 32 yards.
Downs was targeted four times, and he caught two for 37 yards — including a 25-yarder.
Alec Pierce led the Colts’ receiving stats, for what it’s worth, at four catches (six targets) for 61 yards.
But what is supposed to be made of Allen and Downs? It’s a good question, with a different answer than the surface-level stats would indicate.
Josh Downs Actually Is Fine
Downs was targeted three times on the Colts’ first drive of the game, which says a lot about what Indianapolis thinks of him. They were going right to him right out of the gate.
Daniel Jones clearly trusts Downs — but yeah, that makes it weird that he wasn’t targeted again until the final drive of the game.
14. Josh Downs had a disappointing 12.9% target share today — seeing one fewer target than Tyler Warren, and two fewer than both Keenan Allen and Alec Pierce.
He got targeted three times on the opening drive, then not again until the final garbage-time drive.
Very weird, and…
— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) September 14, 2026
Downs also led the Colts’ WRs in both snaps and route share.
He played 48 snaps, which was 89% of the Colts’ offensive plays, and he ran a route on 88% of potential Indianapolis pass plays, ahead of Allen (77%) and Pierce (65%).
All of that suggests Downs is still viewed as a big piece of the offense, even if the throws didn’t go his way.
Colts snap count observations ⬇️
-Josh Downs: 48 snaps (89%)…played just 59% in Year 3. Big step up.
-Keenan Allen: 36 (67%) in Game 1 in Indy.
-Alec Pierce: 32 (59%)
-Laquon Treadwell: 19 on offense (35%)…just 1 target, his 1st in 3 years
— Nathan Brown (@By_NathanBrown) September 14, 2026
Colts’ Slot Role
The one other key about this: Downs kept his slot spot.
Allen can operate all over the field, but the main concern would’ve been if Allen took over snap slots in favor of Downs. That didn’t happen.
All four of Downs’ targets came when he lined up in the slot. Five of Allen’s six targets came from the outside.
#Colts QB Daniel Jones had 87.9% of his dropbacks come out of 11 personnel. The Ravens’ defense pressured him on 48.5% of his dropbacks while only blitzing 21.2% of the time. All 4 of Josh Downs’s targets came out of the slot, with Keenan Allen having 83.3% of his targets out…
— Corbin (@corbin_young21) September 14, 2026
The biggest concern for Downs, if there is one, is simply that the QB Jones didn’t look very good. As long as Jones gets rolling, Downs should still have a quality season in the Colts’ passing attack.
Josh Downs vs. Keenan Allen Isn’t Actually Colts Conflict