The Kansas City Chiefs made a move at wide receiver before the NFL trade deadline, acquiring Josh Downs from the Indianapolis Colts. Kansas City sent fourth- and fifth-round picks to Indianapolis and got a seventh-round pick back in return. That is a modest price for a receiver who should step into a featured role right away.

The trade wasn’t exactly what I thought the Chiefs needed. If you ask me, Kansas City still needed an outside ball winner. That’s why a player like Brian Thomas Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars) made so much sense to me: a guy who can win down the field, win with size, and out-leverage defenders. Downs doesn’t fit that profile.

Here’s the thing about this offense, though. From a baseline perspective, the Chiefs need healthy wide receivers who can catch the football. Downs checks that box.

Why Josh Downs is still a sneaky good addition

On the latest episode of 13 Personnel, co-host Easton Freeze pushed back a bit on that point. He noted that Downs has struggled to hang on to the football over the last few weeks. That criticism is fair, but I believe some of it came from unrest and a desire to get out of Indianapolis. Downs has mostly been a dependable receiver in terms of drops in the past.

Regardless, I will take his catching ability, even with a couple of hiccups, over what Kansas City has been putting on the field.

Freeze agreed it was a good trade. He pointed out that Downs has built a strong following among analytics-minded fans, who love his metrics and the way he does a couple of things well within a narrow skill set.

Before this year, Downs was productive without being a featured part of the offense. Once he became the focal point for the Colts, his play dipped. Freeze expects that to flip now that Patrick Mahomes is throwing him the football, and with Xavier Worthy nursing an injury, Downs should be a featured piece of the Chiefs’ offense out of necessity.

Can Downs lead a championship-caliber offense?

That is where the real debate lies. Freeze believes Downs clears the bar for getting the Chiefs to the playoffs and being competitive once they get there, which is more than Kansas City could say before the trade. He stopped short, though, of calling Downs a receiver you can feature on championship weekend or in the Super Bowl and feel good about it.

Co-host Austin Stanley countered with a strong point of his own. He asked Freeze to name the pass catchers who have caught Super Bowl touchdowns from Mahomes. The list isn’t exactly loaded with elite No. 1 receivers. Freeze acknowledged it was a fair question, pointing to names like Kadarius Toney.

It’s fair criticism of the team in general. I would add one more thing, though. This is a different Chiefs offense than we’ve seen in years past, and it is a lot more balanced than it once was. Kansas City is spreading production across multiple spots instead of leaning on one receiver.

That includes Kenneth Walker, who has given the Chiefs a level of production at running back they haven’t had in a long time. Travis Kelce is still there. Mahomes can still create magic, turning good plays into great ones and okay plays into good ones.

That’s why I wouldn’t frame this as Downs needing to be the No. 1 option in the offense. He needs to be a good member of an offense that still has enough weapons to supplement the lack of true WR1 production.

The move pushes the needle enough for me. Downs doesn’t solve every problem in the receiver room, and the Chiefs still lack that big-bodied outside threat. For the price Kansas City paid, though, this has a chance to look like one of the sneakier moves at the deadline once January rolls around.