Caleb Downs is a safety from Ohio State who is ranked No. 2 on my NFL Draft Top 100 Big Board. This comprehensive scouting report analyzes Downs’s draft potential, current mock draft trends, and where he ranks among the top prospects.
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Caleb Downs’s NFL Draft Potential
Caleb Downs will get knocked down boards due to positional value, but on my 2026 NFL Draft Big Board, his raw grade is high enough that he still lands in my Top 5, regardless. Downs truly has everything you could ask for from a defender on the back end. At 6’0″, 205 pounds, he’s well-sized with decent length. He’s explosive on the attack and is almost flawless in contact situations, with rare “scraping” ability to get off blocks, pristine tackling form, and infallible angle IQ.
On passing reps, Downs’ coverage mobility takes over; he can seamlessly swivel his hips and manage space overtop routes, he can resist rubs in the box, he can pedal and rotate to hedge for deep routes, and he’s a feisty competitor at the catch point. And underpinning Downs’ game is his fantastic processing ability and truly elite football IQ — a quality that allows him to play faster and more confident than the man across from him. Draft capital aside, Downs is an ultra-complete prospect who’ll be an invaluable addition for his NFL defense.
CFB Week 10 Update
Downs was once again spectacular for Ohio State, this time against Penn State — in ways that didn’t always show up on the stat sheet. Downs’ highlight of the day was his fourth-quarter interception to seal the game — an excellent 2-on-1 rep where Downs managed space on the boundary in the red zone, then undercut a slot fade with smooth timing.
But Downs showed up in both coverage and support time and time again earlier in the game. He was fast-charging from nickel and short zones as a run defender, and his elite spatial IQ was a common theme. Another such rep emphasized this earlier in the game: A dagger concept where Downs dissuaded the QB from throwing the backside wheel, then exploded downhill to seal an incompletion on the checkdown.
Downs continues to prove he’s one of the best prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft, and he should provide an instant and very noticeable impact for whichever defense earns his allegiance.
CFB Week 11 Update
Downs was phenomenal in Ohio State’s 34-10 win over the Boilermakers. He met the expectations as a support defender, flowing downhill with urgency and sound angles, and making his mark as a solo tackler – but his best play came in the second quarter.
Downs – working as the intermediate single-high safety in a middle-field-closed look – anticipated a dig route over the middle and broke on the route before the ball was even thrown. With his instant reaction and response, he was able to deflect and pop the pass up for his teammate Jermaine Mathews Jr. to intercept.
There’s a reason Downs has been a top-three prospect for me all along, in spite of non-elite size or production – and he showed why against Purdue. His instincts for the game are truly 1-of-1, and he’ll be an invaluable piece for an NFL secondary for years to come.
Where Is Downs Being Selected Most Often in the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator?
Downs currently holds the No. 6 overall rank among prospects, indicating his elite standing as of the most recent update. His most recent Average Draft Position (ADP) of 7.1 as of November 11 reflects that he is typically being selected within the top 10 picks overall.
This small gap between rank and ADP suggests he’s consistently valued among evaluators, even amid fluctuations in player evaluations at this stage of the draft cycle.
Users controlling the Cincinnati Bengals have been the team that selected Downs the most frequently over the past week, accounting for 5.6% of their picks across all seven rounds. Notably, 24.7% of the Cincinnati Bengals’ first-round selections over that same period were used on Downs, underscoring users’ strong preference for him as a potential immediate-impact safety.
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Where Does Caleb Downs Rank Amongst Other NFL Draft Prospects?
Downs is currently ranked No. 2 overall in my October 2026 NFL Draft Big Board. Among SAF prospects, Downs ranks 1st at the position, making him the top-rated SAF in this draft class. With a top-10 ranking, Downs is considered one of the elite prospects in the 2026 class.
Want to see how we rank all the draft prospects in the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator? Check out our NFL Draft Prospect Rankings page, which includes more than 750 prospects.