UNC football WR Josh Downs leaving for 2023 NFL Draft, won't play in Holiday Bowl

Projected as a first-round pick in several NFL mock drafts, UNC wide receiver Josh Downs has officially declared for the pro ranks.

"I have decided to forgo my final 2 years of eligibility and enter the 2023 NFL Draft," Downs wrote in a tweet Friday. "I will be opting out of the bowl game and starting my pre-draft training."

After three seasons in Chapel Hill, two of them earning first-team All-ACC honors, Downs leaves UNC ranked No. 3 in the program in career receptions with 202. He had 2,483 receiving yards (No. 4 all time at UNC) and 22 touchdown catches (No. 2) in his career as a Tar Heel.

Downs put up back-to-back 1,000 receiving-yard seasons the past two years, and his connection with quarterback Drake Maye led to one of the top offenses in the country.

Downs is also a punt returner for the Tar Heels, making him an even more attractive NFL prospect.

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This season, even though he missed two games, Downs had and ACC-best 94 catches for 1,029 yards and nine touchdowns.

A Suwanee, Georgia, native, Downs is the son of Gary Downs, a former NC State running back who played six seasons in the NFL as a third-round pick of the Giants.

Dre Bly, the UNC cornerbacks coach who starred for the Tar Heels as the only player in ACC history to earn first-team All-American honors his first three seasons, is Gary's brother-in-law and Josh's uncle.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Josh Downs to NFL Draft: UNC football WR won't play in Holiday Bowl