{"id":873845,"date":"2026-04-24T21:51:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873845\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T21:51:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T21:51:52","slug":"dallas-cowboys-select-ohio-state-safety-caleb-downs-with-no-11-pick-in-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873845\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys select Ohio State safety Caleb Downs with No. 11 pick in 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage<\/a> of the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys, after trading with the Miami Dolphins to move up one spot, made Ohio State safety Caleb Downs the 11th pick of the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> on Thursday. The Cowboys sent the 12th pick and two fifth-round selections (Nos. 177 and 180) to the Dolphins.<\/p>\n

Downs was a surefire player coming out of high school. The five-star safety from Georgia was a freshman All-American at Alabama, tallying 107 tackles. After Nick Saban retired, he transferred to Ohio State and continued his dominance.<\/p>\n

He was a key part of the 2024 championship team, tallying an interception in the semifinal to seal the Cotton Bowl victory. His junior season, though, was even better, despite Ohio State not winning a championship.<\/p>\n

Everything Ohio State did in the secondary was built around Downs, letting him use his instincts and tackling ability as much as possible. He played in the box, made tackles on the outside and anchored one of the best defenses in college football. He finished his career with 257 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and six interceptions, between his time at Ohio State and Alabama.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Beast\u2019 breakdown<\/p>\n

Downs ranked No. 5 in Dane Brugler\u2019s top 300 big board<\/a>. Here\u2019s what Brugler said about Downs in his annual NFL Draft guide<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cA human missile, Downs jumps off the tape because of his fast, competitive play style. Despite having average size, he is an elite tackler who fills with impressive body control and strength at contact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coaching intel<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what a Big Ten offensive coach said in Bruce Feldman\u2019s mock draft<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has an extremely high floor. I think he\u2019ll start immediately, and you won\u2019t have to worry about him. He\u2019s really smart and consistent, a good tackler, but I don\u2019t think he can cover well enough in man on a legit slot or one of these freaky tight ends in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott Dochterman grades the pick<\/p>\n

Pound for pound, Downs is the best player in the draft. Now he\u2019s the best value in the draft. For Dallas, Downs marries need with best player available. It\u2019s not just a win-win, but a win-win-win. He can cover most receivers, he\u2019s a sure tackler and he returns punts when needed (see 92-yard touchdown return against Indiana in 2024).<\/p>\n

Downs (5-foot-11 3\/4, 206) was a two-time unanimous first-team All-American as one of the top college safeties over the last decade. Downs did everything for the Buckeyes\u2019 defense the last two seasons, both of which were the nation\u2019s top-ranked unit. With so much attrition from the 2024 season, the primary common element was Downs. Grade: A+<\/p>\n

How he fits<\/p>\n

New defensive coordinator Christian Parker just got a major chess piece for his rebuild. Downs has the ability to help in all areas, making plays deep or up near the line of scrimmage. The Cowboys didn\u2019t move up for Downs just to sit back deep. This is a player who will be used all over the field, instantly becoming their second-most important defender behind interior defensive lineman Quinnen Williams. There\u2019s a good chance that Downs would have been the Cowboys\u2019 pick if they were drafting in the top six. The celebration in their draft room after the trade was made told us all we needed to know. They are extremely excited to have added one of the top players on their board.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to make plays at all facets of the game,\u201d Downs said after he was drafted. \u201cWhether that\u2019s near the line of scrimmage or the deep part of the field, I feel like I can do it all. \u2026 I\u2019m very instinctual. Quick trigger whenever I see the ball. And I\u2019m a very smart football player that\u2019s able to read and react and make plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Depth chart impact<\/p>\n

There was a time not long ago when no team valued safety less than the Cowboys. But a lot has changed under Parker. Their biggest free-agent signing was a safety, Jalen Thompson, and now their biggest draft move takes the position to another level. Downs can play safety, but he\u2019ll see a lot of time as their nickel defensive back, a position that seems to be becoming more important every season in today\u2019s NFL. Downs, Thompson, Malik Hooker, P.J. Locke and Markquese Bell are the names to know at the safety position for Dallas.<\/p>\n

They also could have picked \u2026<\/p>\n

Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. Although he was extremely effective in college, there were concerns about his shorter-than-average arms for a pass rusher. Bain ended up going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 15. He might not have been the ideal fit for Parker\u2019s scheme, but he was the consensus next-best defender available when Dallas went on the clock.<\/p>\n

Fast evaluation<\/p>\n

Even the most negative person couldn\u2019t criticize this move. The Cowboys badly needed defensive help and Downs is certainly one of the top five defenders in this class. And Dallas wasn\u2019t afraid to move up a pick to get its guy. Positional value was likely a factor in Downs falling to 11. Safety isn\u2019t considered a premium position, but in Parker\u2019s defense, he should have a bigger impact than most safeties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Dallas Cowboys, after trading with the Miami…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-873845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallascowboys","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-ohio-state-buckeyes"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116461905076549052","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873845","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=873845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}