Ourlads' Profile:
2026 Guide: What Ourlads’ NFL Scouting Services said about CALEB DOWNS:
Ohio State | Hometown: Hoschton, GA | HT: 5116 | WT: 208 | 40 time: 4.45 | Hand: 0912 | Arm: 3014 | Wing: 7314
Three-year starter. Team captain. First-team All-America the past two seasons, Jim Thorpe and Lott Impact Award winner this past season. Started every game of his college career and won the National Championship during the 2024 season. Well-built safety prospect with notable arm length and muscle definition. Leader on the back end who helps with all adjustments in the secondary. Makes plays all over the field from a variety of alignments including deep safety, in the slot, and in the box. Elite athlete who shows up all over the field in an instant. Excellent instincts; will diagnose plays in an instant and finds himself in proper positioning often. Versus run, bursts out of his stance with exceptional acceleration to fit out his gap. Toughness to take on and stuff tight ends and sniffers at full speed while holding gap responsibility. Discards offensive linemen with agility, footwork, and a quick arm-over. Wraps up with excellent form and strength while limiting yards-after-contact. In coverage, shows ability to excel in one-high and two-high coverages. Reads quarterback intentions to take away threats in his peripheral and behind him. Midpoints targets with excellent route recognition to take away options at all levels with impressive range and short-area explosiveness. Physical in man coverage to disrupt and stick to all types of targets. Excellent hip fluidity and start-stop ability when opening up to carry receivers downfield. Quick to diagnose screens and will trigger in an instant to tackle in the backfield. Adds value as a blitzer off the edge. While missed tackles were very rare in 2024, they were more prevalent in 2025 as he sometimes would not run his feet on contact and let ball carriers shrug him off. Occasionally undercuts ball carriers on angles from depth letting them get out in front of him. Needs to increase violence at the catchpoint to force incompletions. Limited ball production his final collegiate season.
2025 Stats: 68 T, 5 TFL, 1 sack, 2 PBU, 1 QBH, 2 FF, 2 INT. Draft projection: 1st round