Why isn’t Caleb Downs a top 5 lock in the 2026 NFL Draft? In this in-depth scouting report, Joe DeLeone and Ryan Roberts break down the Ohio State safety’s game — analyzing the key concerns and untapped potential that could cause him to fall outside the top 5. Don’t miss this expert evaluation of one of college football’s biggest names.
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00:00Caleb Downs is being regarded as one of the best safety prospects ever. How does he stack
00:05up against some of the other biggest names? Stay tuned to find out where we stand on the Ohio State
00:10DB. Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is already being considered the best prospect in the 2026
00:21class. Ryan, let's first just talk about what makes him such a great player that he's at least
00:26worthy of that consideration. Yeah, I mean, I think he reminds me a lot of Buda Baker. If you
00:30watch a lot of Cardinals film over the last couple of years, I mean, he's one of the better safeties
00:34in the NFL. And I think that Downs' game is a big parallel to him because of the size, obviously,
00:40right? Like I don't think that Downs is quite the six foot that he's kind of listed at. He's probably
00:44more in the five, 10 and a half range, but he's really physical, strong downhill, great tackler
00:50in space. And he's incredibly instinctual, which makes a lot of sense when you consider his brother
00:54as an NFL wide receiver. His dad was a former college football player and NFL player that also
01:00is a college coach currently. So this is a young man that plays with great anticipation,
01:05great instincts, and is one of the best tackling safeties that we've seen come out in several
01:08years. He was pretty productive last year. And I found it really funny that during the season,
01:13people were trying to be critical of Caleb Downs because his production wasn't like exemplary.
01:18He still had 81 tackles, seven and a half tackles for loss, six pass breakups and two
01:23interceptions. And when you watch him, you kind of understand why his production is that way,
01:27why he's not a ball hawking guy. He's not somebody who is playing from depth, who's playing from range,
01:32who is over the top and just attacking the ball when it's in the air. Ohio State was deploying him
01:39very uniquely and it was deploying him to play to his skillset. He's physical, he's willing to hit,
01:46he is a pretty reliable tackler. So they were dropping him in the middle of their defense
01:52and a little bit more closer to the line of scrimmage, allowing for him to make plays against
01:57the run, allowing for him to make plays against the ball when it was being thrown over the middle
02:01of the field. But I think that that starts the conversation of why wasn't he playing from over
02:07the top? Why wasn't he playing from depth when he clearly has the fluid hips, the speed, the
02:12athleticism and that range to do it successfully. It's just not a lot of coverage reps from him when
02:17you watch him. Yeah, no, I would, I would phrase it like this, Joe. I think that Caleb Downs is a
02:22lot better coming towards the line of scrimmage and like laterally it's good, but I don't think
02:28that he's a pure, like true free safety type. It's going to play from depth. That's going to
02:32rotate to the middle of the field. There is a big reason to your points of why is this kid playing
02:37mid hole short zone and some man reps against bigger slots at times and tight ends. Like that's
02:43kind of how he's utilized in Ohio state system. Cause I just don't think that he's a, I don't
02:47think that he's going to be a tremendous coverage player on the NFL level. I think that he is much
02:52more a role specific safety in terms of coverage that has high upside as far as his ability to come
02:58back towards a lot of scrimmage and be that tackler, be that enforcer, be that box player.
03:03I don't think this is the generational safety that some people are acting like he is. I think he's a
03:07very good prospect, clear first rounder in this class from what I've seen so far, but is he a top 10
03:13level player in this class? Is he a guy that should go in that range? Is he a guy that is
03:17going to be one of the best safety process we've seen to come out in some time? I think that's
03:20kind of where the conversation has got a little bit hyperbolic. Yeah. I think that there is a lot
03:26of hyperbole when we're talking about him, very good player, one that is worthy of going in the first
03:30round. We need to pay attention though, to the history of the safety position over the last couple
03:36of years and where certain guys have been drafted. And I know that this is going to be perceived as a
03:40slight. People are going to think I'm being super negative and critical of him, but we watched Kyle
03:44Hamilton slide into the teens who was a generational prospect, six foot four, could fly all over the
03:52field. And anyone who wants to argue with me that he wasn't a better prospect, look at the results in
03:56the field now. And the general overthink of drafting a safety early, he has turned into one of the best
04:02defenders in the NFL because he is such a rarity. Malachi Stark, same thing happens. His film in 2024
04:07wasn't as exciting as we were hoping for when we talked about him last summer, but he still had
04:13really good tape and he's still a really just fantastic, fluid, cerebral football player. He goes
04:19in the end of the first round for a guy that was projected to go in the teens, even more, a better,
04:23better example here. Nikim and Wari has the best combine testing performance ever for a safety. He
04:29goes in the second round. I'm saying all this to say, I don't think Caleb Downs goes in the top 10.
04:34I don't, I don't think that it is realistic to expect that he will be a top 10 pick, especially
04:38knowing the amount of quarterbacks that are going to be in the discussion that teams that need
04:43quarterbacks will likely take them before they consider taking a safety.
04:48Safeties fall down the board. And I want to hyper-focus again, a prior that you just talked
04:52about. Kyle Hamilton at six foot four, 220 pounds was so athletic and had such good range for Notre
04:58Dame. They literally asked him to play single high free safety a ton during his time at Notre
05:04Dame. That was a rare player. That was a rare athlete. And if that type of athlete and that
05:09type of upside didn't go in the top 10, I just don't know how you project right now a Caleb
05:15Downs to go quite that high. I think that he will be a foregone conclusion as a first rounder
05:20due to his instinctual nature, his mental side, his physicality. But again, we need to pump our
05:26brakes a little bit as this kid being the number one player in this class or a surefire top 10 pick.
05:31Very good prospect, but just kind of look at the historical trends. Most likely a safety is not
05:37going to go in the top 10, especially I think in this style of a guy that I think is a little bit
05:41limited in some, in some ways. Just as quickly, as we always do to highlight his recruiting background,
05:47he was coming out of the state of Georgia. He played at Mill Creek high school. He was the number
05:53one recruit in the state of Georgia, the number one safety, and he was nationally the seventh overall
05:58prospect in the 2023 class. He originally played for Alabama. He was huge for Alabama's
06:05run to the Rose Bowl and they were knocked out by Michigan. And there's the transfer portal after
06:09Nick Saban retires and he goes to Ohio State and the rest has been history. Again, fantastic football
06:15player. He now gets a new defensive coordinator with Matt Patricia to utilize him this season. And
06:21we'll truly understand what he can be as a player. And hopefully we do get to see more opportunities for
06:26what does he do from depth instead of the role that he was playing last year in Jim Knowles' defense.
06:33Downs had an argument as the top overall player in the 2023 recruiting class. He was that good. He
06:39was a true five-star player and we've seen it the last two years, Joe, like projecting as a college
06:43football player. He's fantastic. Obviously chose Alabama originally Ohio state finished second
06:48Notre Dame and Georgia were a couple other teams that were in that recruitment pretty late into it,
06:53but ultimately he dominated in the SEC as a freshman, played really well for Ohio state down
06:58the stretch in their national title run. This is a great college football player who will be a heck
07:02of an NFL player as well. Folks hit that like button and subscribe and let us know your thoughts below
07:07on Caleb Downs. Are you a believer that he is a top five prospect or do you think that maybe he could
07:14slide a little bit, let us know below and we will talk to you later.