Caleb Downs Scouting Report
Should the best safety in the class be a top 10 pick?
What’s crackin’, folks!
I’m wrapping up Ohio State’s elite defensive prospects with a guy who was projected as the first defender off the board and first overall pick in some way-too-early mock drafts. Caleb Downs was another unicorn-type player for the Buckeyes, playing at a high level while aligning all over the defensive formation.
How Ohio State deployed Downs was similar to how Arvell Reese played: both could cause presnap issues for the offense by being anywhere on the field. Downs added a better coverage element than Reese, but both players had to be accounted for on every play.
Safety is another position where teams are hesitant to take a player high in the first round. There are so few game-changing safeties in college that NFL teams would rather use a high first-round pick on more impactful positions. What makes Downs unique, and what could get him into the top 10, is his versatility.
A perfectly logical debate over Downs: Is he Kyle Hamilton or Jabrill Peppers? Both players were unicorn-types for their college teams who declared for the draft as true juniors, and both have been versatile chess pieces in the NFL.
Downs strongly reminds me of Jabrill Peppers with their similar stature (Peppers - 5’11”, Downs - 6’0”) and play style. The Browns made Peppers the 25th-overall pick in the 2017 draft, but Downs should land at a considerably higher spot.
Let’s get into it.
