FRISCO, Texas – With the 11th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Cowboys selected Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. Nearly two weeks removed from doing so, Dallas believes they have a core piece of their defense who can help all over the secondary.
For new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, Downs seems almost tailor made for Dallas' new scheme because of his versatility, instincts and football IQ. The Cowboys feel confident that Downs can play multiple positions in the secondary at a high level, and the tape reflects it.
From starting as a true freshman for Nick Saban at Alabama to learning two more complex defensive schemes under Jim Knowles and Matt Patricia at Ohio State, there isn't a lot that Downs isn't familiar with defensively.
Let's dive into some of Downs' college tape and get an idea of what he can do:
Controlling the middle of the field
In an interview on The Draft Show following the Cowboys' selection of Downs, Cowboys national scout Ross Wuensche said one of the things that made Downs different was that "he erases the middle of the field."
You'll see that more than once in this study that between the hashes, Downs can make all kinds of plays chasing the ball or chasing a ball carrier. In this case, it's the latter. Lined up on the opposite side of the field, Downs looks to have eyes on the quarterback while Miami's receiver is going in motion the whole way. He slowly starts to drift towards the direction of the motion man as the play begins to develop, and before the ball even hits the receiver's hands, Downs is already well on his way towards him.
At 6', 206, Downs isn't necessarily the big, heavy-hitting built safeties like you see around the league in some places like a Derwin James or Nick Emmanwori. That said, he still packs a punch, and lowered his shoulder right into the arms of the receiver to pop it free and force a fumble. Whether it be from a nickel or safety alignment under Parker, Downs can cover plenty of ground and make things difficult for teams looking to move the ball over the middle.
Making plays at the line of scrimmage
It's not necessarily uncommon in today's NFL to send secondary players on blitzes and have them get into the backfield to make a play. It isn't as common to see safeties lined up at the line of scrimmage with the ability to shoot the B-gap. On this play, Caleb Downs does just that.
On this play, Miami is trying to run behind the left side of their offensive line. The left guard works a combo block with the center to take away the nose tackle, and the big left tackle is looking to box out the defensive end to create a running lane. Those two parts of the play appear to have worked. What didn't work for Miami was the motioning receiver appearing to get caught up in the left tackle's block, leaving the b-gap wide open for Caleb Downs to run through.
Before the ball is even handed off, Downs is already on his way to the gap at the line of scrimmage after lining up just outside the right hip of his defensive end. As the running back takes his second step with the ball, Downs is already laying into him. If you want to be nit-picky, you could say Downs could've attempted to wrap better, but it looks like the receiver that was caught on the block may have gotten a bit of a block on him to throw him off a full tackle opportunity. Regardless, Downs did his job of holding things up at the line of scrimmage and blew the play up.
Reading the quarterback's eyes and reacting
Remember our discussion about Downs being a difference maker because of his ability to cover the middle of the field? On this play, you'll see it unfold while making a play on the ball.
Lined up in the middle of the field, almost like a second QB spy (it looks like Cody Simon, the LB in front of Downs wearing 0, was used as a QB spy on this play), Downs doesn't make any drastic movements as the quarterback looks to the right side of the field at the start of the play, he just takes a few steps over in case the ball goes that way.
Where everything changes is when the QB snaps his head to the other side of the field. Oregon is running two different in-breaking routes on the left side of the field with around seven or so yards between them. As the play begins to go that way, Downs plants his left foot in the ground and goes towards the shallower route, which is probably the easier throw for the QB to make in this situation. There's not much of a window to throw in at that point for Oregon's QB, and it looked like he even put it too far in front of his receiver, making Downs the benefactor with an easy interception.
Just being a good football player
Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker said that Downs is the kind of player that is the first pick the schoolyard for a pickup football game. He just does a lot of things well as a football player, even if it's not necessarily fancy.
In the national championship game against Notre Dame in 2024, you see that on this play against Riley Leonard, who is now with the Colts. The Irish used Leonard's legs a lot in their CFP run, and the offense was successful because of it. Working in the red zone here, Leonard is going to look to scramble early to his right, where Downs was lined up in the slot/nickel position which he could see a lot of reps at in Dallas.
On this play, the angle Downs takes needs to be good in order to prevent Leonard from making a move past him to pick up yards. As Downs is coming downhill, he looks to keep himself square to Leonard and ends up taking away the opportunity to take his rush lane inside (with some help from his big defensive tackle). So, Leonard is essentially forced to go outside. Even though he and Downs get even at the 10-yard line, which in some cases would benefit the quarterback, Downs' angle took him towards the sideline and there's not a lot of grass for Leonard to work with. With Downs making a diving effort to push Leonard out of bounds, he's able to successfully keep him from picking up a first down.
