Caleb Downs
Career Summary
Caleb Downs is a safety from Hoschton, Georgia, who played at Alabama and Ohio State before the Dallas Cowboys selected him in the 2026 NFL Draft.
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High School
Downs attended Mill Creek High School in Georgia before beginning his college career at Alabama.
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College Career
Downs concluded a three-year collegiate career with 44 starts, 257 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, six interceptions and 17 total passes defended. At Ohio State in 2025, he totaled 68 tackles, five tackles for loss, two interceptions, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles while helping lead a defense ranked first nationally in total, scoring, passing and rushing defense.
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Path to the NFL
Dallas traded up one spot and selected Downs in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
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NFL Career
Downs joined the Cowboys as a rookie safety in 2026. Dallas projected him for a substantial early role in its defense, including work at safety and nickel corner.
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Career Accomplishments
Downs won the 2025 Jim Thorpe Award and Lott IMPACT Trophy, was the Big Ten Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year and Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year, and was a unanimous first-team All-American in both 2024 and 2025. At Alabama in 2023, he was the Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year.
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Playing Style
Dallas evaluated Downs as a versatile defensive back who can work at nickel corner, free safety, strong safety and linebacker. The Cowboys highlighted his processing, athletic reactions, zone and press-man coverage, run defense and blitz ability.
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Sources for this section
31854, 00-0040865, 12/10/2004, Caleb Downs, Caleb, Downs
MFT PLAYER RANKINGS
Current player ranking
MFT Score: 0.0
2026 preseason baseline. Position-relative and updated through the site’s weekly review process.