Caleb Downs, SAF, Ohio State
There is a healthy crossover of Ohio State and Bengals fans, so drafting Caleb Downs would be well-received. Even among those with little-brother syndrome would have to agree that Downs would immediately upgrade the defense.
The Bengals haven’t used a first-round pick on a safety since Dax Hill. Downs should be considered better than Hill because the defensive coaching staff had no idea what to do with Hill and only recently figured it out.
Downs is a true plug-and-play pick. Bengals fans have watched Kyle Hamilton star for the Baltimore Ravens. Here is your Kyle Hamilton.
Caleb Downs should be a top 10 pick… but we know NFL teams will overthink pic.twitter.com/KEVCYIKOaY
— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) January 8, 2026
He can play free safety and strong safety. Downs is adept at playing in the box and coming up in run defense, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play back. His instincts and ability to read route concepts and react are second-to-none. If you’re box score watching a safety, you’re doing it wrong; Downs’ impact goes way beyond the scoresheet.
In his time in college, both at Alabama as a freshman and at Ohio State the last two seasons, Downs has amassed 257 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, six interceptions (two each year, oddly enough), 12 pass breakups, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Oh, and he returned a punt for a touchdown for Ohio State in 2024.
Downs was a back-to-back unanimous All-American in 2024 and 2024, won the Thorpe Award as the top defensive back, the Lott IMPACT Trophy, and even finished ninth in Heisman voting. Within the Big Ten, he was a two-time Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year, and won the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honor this year.
Positional value or not, Downs would elevate the defense.
