Blogging The Boys
We continue our 2026 NFL Draft preview of draft prospects that could interest the Dallas Cowboys. Today we are looking at safety Caleb Downs from Ohio State.
SFY
Ohio State
Junior
5-star recruit
6’0”
205 lbs
Caleb Downs grew up in Hoschton, Georgia and became the do-everything star at Mill Creek High School, lining up all over the field and making plays as a tackler and ballhawk. He comes from a real football family and he’s the son of former NFL running back Gary Downs, and his older brother is NFL wide receiver Josh Downs. The brothers have a podcast called “Downs 2 Business”.
As a recruit, Downs was viewed as a rare clean safety prospect who looked smart, athletic, and already polished. He was awarded a five-star recruit rating and was ranked the number one safety in the 2023 class. He committed to Alabama in July 2022 and joined the team in 2023.
His freshman season at Alabama was impressive and he instantly played like an upperclassman. He notched 107 tackles, three tackles for loss, two interceptions, four pass breakups, plus a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also added value as a returner which includes a punt-return touchdown.
In his second season Downs transferred to Ohio State and the production stayed elite while the role got even more versatile. He finished with 82 tackles, 7.5 TFL, one sack, two interceptions, and six PBUs, plus he was a weapon on punt returns with six returns for 98 yards and one touchdown. During the team’s playoff run Downs was instrumental in helping the team win a National Championship. Across the four playoff games he racked up 20 total tackles, two tackles for loss, three PBU’s, and one interception.
His third season at Ohio State turned into the full trophy run. He made 68 tackles, five TFL, one sack, two interceptions, two PBUs, and two forced fumbles in 14 games. The accolades at the end of year came like a waterfall and Downs won every defensive and position award that year as well as All-America and first-team honours. During the three years playing college football, Downs never missed a single game due to injury.
560 Defensive Snaps
5 Total Pressures
68 Total Tackles
5 TFL
1 Sack
2 PBU
2 INT
2 FF
63% Completion Allowed
47.9 Pass Rating Allowed
2 Penalties
Defensive line: 5%
Box: 33%
Free Safety: 39%
Slot: 22%
N/A
2023 Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award
2023 SEC Freshman of the Year
2023 First-Team All-SEC
2023 Second-Team All-America
2024 CFP National Championship
2024 Consensus All-America
2024 Tatum–Woodson Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year
2024 First-Team All-Big Ten
2025 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
2025 Consensus All-America
2025 Jim Thorpe Award
2025 Ronnie Lott Trophy
2025 First-team All-Big Ten
Overall**–** 93.8
Speed- 90
Acceleration- 96
Agility- 88
Strength- 82
Tackling- 81
Run Defense-...
