NFL Draft Scouting Notebook: Caleb Downs

Analyzing one of the best defensive prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft

Recently, I watched film on Ohio State safety, Caleb Downs. The three games that I watched of Downs were against Texas, Illinois, and Penn State.

Let’s review the strengths and weaknesses of Downs.

Strengths

The first thing that has to be mentioned with Downs is his intelligence. He is a very smart player. Downs has great instincts, discipline, and eyes to read and react. He exudes patience while diagnosing. His eyes are terrific when it comes to processing misdirection, screens, and play action. Downs does not get fooled by much. He takes good pursuit angles to the ball carrier. He pursues with good control and knows when to adjust his angle. Downs also showed a feel for setting the edge against the run when he lined up on or near the end of the line of scrimmage.

Downs’ high-level instincts are also on display in zone coverage. He always keys in on the quarterback with his eyes. Simultaneously, he has great route recognition skills. He will instantly break on routes. There were a handful of times where Downs forced the quarterback to go to the next read in their progression. Overall, Downs showed consistent comfortability in zone with his elite processing ability.

Downs will provide an NFL defensive coordinator with plenty of alignment versatility. He was used to both the field and boundary side in split safety looks. On the deep half, he played in the middle of the field in single-high looks. Downs also lined up in the slot, out wide on running backs and tight ends, in the box, and, as noted above, on the end of the line of scrimmage.

Athletically, Downs showed explosion, speed, quickness changing direction, and closing speed to finish plays.

I was extremely impressed with Downs’ hand technique and how consistent he was with it. Whether it was taking on blocks or in coverage, his hands are always active. Against blocks, he extends his hands quickly and tightly. Also, technically, he has natural knee bend to stay low against blocks and play with balance. He sets a good, strong base as he takes on blocks. Downs takes on blocks with heavy hands and can shed with ease. He is consistently willing to be physical. To boot, he also worked around plenty of blocks using his quickness athletically.

Downs can read and react to run blocking schemes. He used his eyes to key in on the running back, which enabled him to locate through traffic. He is willing to go low to tackle. Downs made some nice run stops and tackles in space.

In man coverage, Downs understands how to gain positional leverage. He showed the ability to stay square and be patient against routes. In the contact window, Downs uses his hands to stay in-phase.

As a deep safety, Downs is reliable as the last line of defense. He finishes plays with high effort.

Downs was clutch at the end of the Texas game. In man coverage on a tight end running a drag route, Downs did a great job using his burst to get under a pic set by a receiver, and made an impressive tackle in space to stop a fourth and short.

Downs’ interception against Penn State highlighted his versatility lining up out wide on a running back, his eyes reading the quarterback all the way, and ball skills to come away with a pick in traffic.

Weaknesses

Downs did not show many areas of concern from the three games of his that I watched.

One point worth noting, however, is that he can wrap to finish tackles more consistently. His tackling is not a concern, but there are some things he can clean up. He looks to break down too early, which led to a few missed tackles. There were three plays against Texas where he just dove and went low toward a ball carrier and did not finish by wrapping up. Perhaps, he can also get a little bit stronger.

Lastly, in coverage, he does have a tendency to get a little too physical with his hands through the route.

Final Thoughts

Downs may not play a valued, premium position for a top-10 pick, but his tape was nothing short of exceptional. His versatility, instincts, intelligence, eyes, hand technique, and physicality are all redeeming qualities. Downs has the potential to be one of the five best players in the 2026 NFL Draft.