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NFL Wide Receiver Names Bengals As Best Spot For Star Brother In 2026 NFL Draft

Cincinnati may have him and a few other great options on the draft board this April.
Dec 14, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs (2) celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Seattle Seahawks during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Dec 14, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs (2) celebrates after catching a touchdown pass against the Seattle Seahawks during the second quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven-Imagn Images

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CINCINNATI — Caleb Downs is a draft target for a lot of Bengals fans, and the Ohio State star safety's brother, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs, wants to see him land in Cincinnati, too.

The fourth-year NFL player discussed his brother's draft trajectory with Overtime recently and noted he'd love to play with the top safety in the Draft, but the Colts don't have a first-round pick and won't get a chance to take him.

"Bengals or Giants would be pretty cool," Downs said while in a foam pit. "Bengals, one of my dogs, DJ Turner, played in the secondary, and their linebacker Barrett Carter, I went to high school with both of those dudes. They're gonna build something over there. And then the Giants, I just like New York City, and then I feel like the Giants got a good little squad. They're young, and they can get right."

Caleb Downs
Ohio State Buckeyes defensive back Caleb Downs (2) yells during warm ups prior to the NCAA football game against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Oct. 11, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There's a world where the Downs Brothers play together in Cincinnati if the Bengals were to trade for the solid slot wide receiver in a potential Trey Hendrickson deal. It's far more likely that only Caleb dons stripes this coming season as Cincinnati waits to see how the draft board falls in April.

If that happens, some brother-on-brother game action is very likely with Cincinnati suiting up against the Colts in 2026. The Ohio State star is the eighth-ranked player on the Mock Draft Database's consensus big board.

"I'd win for sure," Josh said about Caleb covering him.

He's got plenty of reason to be confident after another solid NFL season (70-plus Pro Football Focus grade in all three campaigns).

Check out the full chat with Josh Downs below:

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Published | Modified
Russ Heltman
RUSSELL HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is on the Bearcats and Bengals beat for On SI. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH.  Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.