{"id":869205,"date":"2026-04-18T14:22:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/869205\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T14:22:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T14:22:45","slug":"commanders-expected-to-pass-on-ohio-state-safety-caleb-downs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/869205\/","title":{"rendered":"Commanders Expected to Pass on Ohio State Safety Caleb Downs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Caleb\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Analysts expect Ohio State safety Caleb Downs to be a top 10 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

The Washington Commanders<\/a> have meaningful roster gaps to fill at every level of the defense, but fans shouldn\u2019t expect the team to address the deficiencies at safety early in next week\u2019s NFL<\/a> draft.<\/p>\n

That was the report from Tony Pauline of Essentially Sports last week, who cited multiple sources saying Washington is unlikely to select top-ranked safety Caleb Downs<\/a> out of Ohio State<\/a> with the No. 7 overall pick.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople close to the organization tell me a pass-rusher, wide receiver and cornerback are in play at No. 7. Most believe the team will not take Caleb Downs if the Ohio State safety is available to them,\u201d Pauline wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe team signed Nick Cross<\/a> in free agency and still believes in (Quan) Martin<\/a> despite a disappointing 2025 season. Those inside the building feel Martin\u2019s upside is incredible and believe he can right the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the positions of need mentioned, Pauline also cited sources who said the Commanders are seriously interested in Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love if he drops out of the top five and is available at No. 7 overall.<\/p>\n

Caleb Downs Reliable Bet at Safety in Upcoming NFL Draft\"Caleb<\/p>\n

GettySafety Caleb Downs of Ohio State.<\/p>\n

While Downs doesn\u2019t make as many game-changing plays as some of his peers at the safety position, he is an elite communicator and traffic director on defense who stops high-level offensive talents from making explosive plays they would otherwise break.<\/p>\n

\u201cDowns is an alpha who brings immense juice on each snap,\u201d Lance Zierlein of NFL Network wrote<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s at his best when deployed near the line as a box safety or big nickel back. He\u2019ll gamble a little bit as a run defender, but he makes more than enough disruptive plays near the line of scrimmage to make up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zierlein compared Downs to Jalen Pitre<\/a>, a fixture with the Houston Texans<\/a> \u2014 perhaps the NFL\u2019s best defense last season \u2014 over the past four years<\/a>. Pitre was an early second-round pick out of Baylor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile [Downs is] quick to close and strike underneath, there are hints of caution that prevent him from making more plays on the football,\u201d Zierlein continued. \u201cDowns isn\u2019t the biggest, fastest or most versatile player, but he consistently puts his stamp on games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commanders Just Invested Meaningfully in Nick Cross at Safety\"Nick<\/p>\n

GettyWashington Commanders safety Nick Cross.<\/p>\n

Cross, who Pauline mentioned as a player the Commanders will rely on in 2026, inked a two-year deal in Washington worth $13 million<\/a> this offseason.<\/p>\n

The former third-round pick out of Maryland spent the first four seasons of his professional career with the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>, where he played his way into a full-time starting role<\/a> in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cCross provides the Commanders with another key piece for the defense,\u201d John Keim of ESPN wrote in March<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s fast (4.34 in the 40-yard dash) and young (24). He started the past two years as the Colts\u2019 strong safety and earned a reputation as a blitzer and stout run defender \u2014 good news for a defense that ranked 30th versus the run a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMax Dible<\/a> covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Commanders\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Analysts expect Ohio State safety Caleb Downs to be a top 10 pick in the 2026 NFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,7,6,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-869205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-commanders","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-commanders","13":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116426164059360716","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}