"I feel confident every time I stepped on the field. If I would say I walked on the field and thought anybody was better than me, yeah, that's not true. Last season, Downs was named the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year and also won the Thorpe Award, which is given to the country's top defensive back."
"It's not really [about] positional value. It's who affects the game. If you affect the game in a lot of ways, that's what's most important. I feel like being able to play multiple positions is what makes people useful. It makes people special."
Caleb Downs, a former Ohio State safety, is projected as a potential top-five pick in the upcoming NFL draft. He won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and Thorpe Award, and was captain of the nation's best scoring defense. Downs challenges the conventional wisdom about using premium picks on safeties, arguing that overall defensive excellence should matter most. He emphasizes his versatility, playing multiple positions from deep coverage to slot cornerback. If selected in the top five, he would be the first safety since Eric Berry in 2010 to achieve this distinction. Downs transferred from Alabama to Ohio State and helped win the College Football Playoff championship in 2024.
Read at ESPN.com
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