[Editor’s note: Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, who will be a top 10 pick in next month’s NFL Draft, spoke exclusively with Doug Farrar for an in-depth interview in the 2026 NFL Draft Preview magazine. The following is a sidebar from that interview, in which the versatile Downs talked about all the different things he does on the football field. To see the entire draft preview magazine, order your copy today onlineor pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]
Ohio State safetyDowns has already proven he can do it all in a Buckeyes defense under coordinator Matt Patricia that mirrors the next level in complexity and effectiveness. Here is how Downs approaches all the different things he does so well on a football field:
Playing the Slot: “It really is just being able to read or recognize the routes based off the release of the receiver,” Downs said. “A lot of playing in the slot is being able to know where your help is. If I have two people that are helping me on the inside, I’m going to rely on that and use them as much as I can. So I’m going to play low and outside and be able to force the ball and force the receiver to go to my help.”
Reading the Quarterback: Downs says that in coverage, wherever he is, the common denominator is his ability to read the quarterback, who will tell him just about everything about where the ball is going. From there, you “feel the route” the receiver is running.
“You’re reading the quarterback’s tempo in terms of how his shoulders are turned and when he hits his back foot,” Downs said. “If he hits his back foot pretty quick, it’s usually not a deeper progression. If he hits his back foot really early, it’s usually a three-step drop or a quick game or something that’s going to happen really quick and he’s going to throw it. If he hits his back foot and he doesn’t end up throwing the ball, he’s going to turn back and work through his progression and get through a checkdown [to a deeper throw].”
Using the Speed: Downs can simply match his receiver wherever he goes. Downs’ place-to-place speed is outstanding for his size (6-foot and 205 pounds), which gives him the comfort and confidence to carry any receiver to anywhere on the field. That demon speed also helps him when it’s time to blitz as a free runner. Downs didn’t do that a lot, but when he did, it generally worked, and one could see his NFL team expanding that as part of his professional palette.
“I feel like that’s kind of been something I’ve been blessed with, just the ability to accelerate at eye level,” he said. “I can’t really take credit for that. At the end of the day, my dad did a good job training me and my brother and my sister when we were kids. So I feel like I got to give him credit for that. But I ran track when I was younger, prior to when I was nine or 10. And then I kind of pulled away from that, which is not the best thing to do.”
What Downs also possesses to accentuate that speed is an inherent understanding of what he’s seeing. He can read and react quickly as opposed to over-processing, which allows him to just go and blow up the play.
Driving the Ball: It’s all about getting to the ball and disrupting the route, which Downs does as well as anybody. He forced two fumbles in Ohio State’s 24-14 loss to Miami (Fla.) in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal, and both were on quick underneath passes to Hurricanes sensation Malachi Toney (the Canes recovered both fumbles). When driving to the ball, Downs said, you must know what your opponents’ tendencies are. If you don’t, you’re going to be covering grass as opposed to receivers.
“A lot of their third-down concepts were option routes to Toney, and just trying to find ways to get him in space,” he said. “So I knew that once I rolled down from two-high to one-high, [quarterback Carson] Beck was going to go wherever he felt like the best matchup was.
“For him, usually that was Toney. So once I rolled down, I was really just reading Carson Beck, seeing where his eyes went, and they went there pretty fast. So I just put my foot in the ground, knowing that the sticks [the first down] were going to be pretty close to where I was. Couldn’t really just let him run me over, so I had to deliver.”
Throughout his football career, Caleb Downs has always delivered. His NFL team should find that it’s no different when his professional journey begins.
