Who Should I Start? Michael Pittman Jr. or Josh Downs

Tuesday, August 5, 1:52 PM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (groin) is back at the team's training camp practice on Tuesday, per Jake Arthur of Sports Illustrated. Pittman suffered a minor groin injury at practice last Tuesday and was held out as a precaution for a week. The 27-year-old will now return to practice, although there's a good chance we won't see him in the team's preseason opener this Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens. There's no concern that he won't be ready for Week 1 of the regular season in early September, where he should once again be the team's WR1 for either quarterbacks Daniel Jones or Anthony Richardson Sr. Josh Downs was more involved in the offense a year ago, which contributed to Pittman only going for 808 yards (fewest since his rookie season) and only three TDs in 2024. Indy's QB situation doesn't exactly make Pittman an intriguing WR4/flex target in fantasy.

Thursday, August 14, 5:05 PM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs (hamstring) left Thursday's training camp practice early due to a left-hamstring injury, according to Stephen Holder of ESPN. Downs injured his hamstring on a play and immediately went to the trainers while walking off the field under his own power. As Holder says, it's definitely a situation worth monitoring after he became a bigger part of Indy's offense in 2024 with a 72-803-5 line on 107 targets in 14 games (eight starts) in his second year in the NFL. For now, we'll consider Downs day-to-day until we know more about the severity of his injury. The Colts' quarterback situation makes all of their receiving targets less than ideal for fantasy purposes, but Downs is worth a look as a WR4/5 for WR depth in fantasy if he's healthy. If Downs' hamstring injury lingers, it will benefit Adonai Mitchell and Alec Pierce (groin) the most.