Welcome back to The McShay Report! Today, we’re diving back into our Summer Scouting Series with a tape breakdown of Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, the top player on my (very) early 2026 big board.
If you’re a new subscriber, be sure to check out my 2026 QB reports and read all about my scouting process here. On Thursday, we’ll be continuing our series with Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
Getty Images/Ringer illustration
Caleb Downs Background
Downs is a two-year starter who has played in every game and logged 1,000-plus snaps in each of his two college seasons. In 2023, he became the first Alabama freshman to lead the team in tackles (107), and also tallied 3.5 TFL, two INTs, four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. He transferred to Ohio State in 2024 and finished third on the team with 82 tackles, including 7.5 for loss. He also tallied six pass breakups and two INTs (one vs. Michigan and one vs. Texas in CFP semifinal). Also averaged 16.3 yards with a TD on six punt returns. His football character, work ethic, and commitment to the game are in the top 1 percent of college players. He’s listed at 6 feet and 205 pounds.
Players are graded on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being best.
Instincts/ Play Recognition (1)
He’s elite in every aspect of this trait: pre-snap recognition of tendencies, post-snap key, ball location, angles of pursuit, leverage, etc.
Ball location and confidence in his reads set him apart—that combination puts him in the 1st percentile in this department! He has a sixth sense for locating the ball. And he shows zero hesitation when he sees it.
Coverage (1.5)
At his best when working near the line of scrimmage and reading/reacting to the ball thrown in front of him. Deciphers, plants, and drives in a flash. Takes exceptional angles and shows impressive body control and awareness to play the ball (or the receiver’s body) without drawing a flag.
I also like him in man coverage—either trailing a receiver underneath in the quick game or crossers, or when backed off in two-high looks. He does a great job of reading receivers’ routes and using leverage/angles to erase targets down the field.
Needs to improve in zone when charged with covering a lot of ground. He looks lost at times when he has to account for multiple receivers coming in and out of his zone. He does not have the smoothest transition when forced to quickly open his hips and react/recover to the ball thrown over his head.
Ball Skills (2)
Excellent body control and awareness around the football, especially driving on the ball in front of him (as noted above). Knows when to attack the ball versus when to attack the body.
Hands are exceptionally quick to knock the ball down at the last second. Plays the ball with a lot of confidence.
Good ball production to date: 10 PBUs and four INTs in two seasons (30 starts). Both INTs in 2024 were in big games—Michigan and Texas (CFP semi).
Could have had three INTs versus Oregon. All PBUs. They would have been great plays on the ball but he came up a hair short on all three.
Run Support (1.5)
Plays a lot bigger than his size. Has an excellent combination of instincts, agility, speed, and lightning-fast hands to work through traffic and stay off blocks.
He absolutely terrorizes opposing offenses when he’s working in the box and near the line of scrimmage.
He’s vicious, fast, and shows great timing/instincts as a blitzer.
Tackling machine during his first two seasons (Alabama and Ohio State). Always around the football. Takes really good angles. Outstanding closing burst. Ironically, one of the biggest areas of improvement I’m looking to see from Downs is with his tackling consistency/form. There are dozens of examples on tape the past two seasons where he’s in position to make the stop, but he whiffs by diving at the ballcarrier’s lower body to torpedo him.
Preseason Prospect Status
College prospects just don’t have Downs’s instincts and football awareness. That’s the best way I can put it. He’s not perfect (deep zone coverage can improve, as can his tackling) but he’s the closest thing to it we’ve seen coming out of college in a long time. His ball reaction and confidence in his reads are what separate him from a lot of talented DBs in the country. He’s also tightly packed with explosive closing burst and outstanding body control and balance when playing the football. He is a terror near the line of scrimmage, he blows up opponents’ run games before they develop (189 tackles, including 11 TFL the past two seasons), and he’s outstanding when playing the ball in front of him in coverage. Downs also averaged 16.3 yards with a TD on six PRs in 2024.
He has 30 starts under his belt at two college football royalty programs—and he was the best player on an OSU defense that won a national championship and saw eight players drafted in 2025. Downs grades out as an elite prospect and currently carries my highest grade of any player at any position in the 2026 class.
NFL Comp: Ed Reed
It’s the awareness and instincts. Ed was the best of all time at knowing what was happening in advance. He picked up on every minor tendency and played with a sixth sense, of sorts. He tripped up the best of the best, including Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Caleb is the closest thing I’ve seen since Ed in that regard. There’s some next-level stuff on his tape!
From the Scouting Notebook: A bonus inside look at some of the stream-of-consciousness notes I took while watching Downs’s film. (These are intentionally unedited!)
Akron
***Missed tackles late but EXCELLENT recognition on 1st 2 plays of clips reel
10:28 2Q: In-box sack
5:39 3Q: Missed tackle— diving at lower body.
Western Michigan
4:20 2Q: Read, react, and then shoots out of a missile launcher!
9:03 3Q: Understands concept, fast reaction, PBU. Really nice job of getting an early jump on ball and undercutting the route. This guy knows the angles!
Oregon
8:48 1Q: Trailing outside-WR on crosser. Reads it, flies to undercut it. Love his body control and awareness here (to avoid PI). Gets the PBU!
2:21 1Q: In space in zone cvg. Ball going behind him… he gets lost a bit. Seen this now a couple times on tape. Something to monitor as season progresses.
Nebraska
12:38 2Q: His “ball location” is absurd. Everyone talks about pre-snap awareness and reading keys. BUT HIS ABILITY TO LOCATE THE BALL and TRUST HIS EYES is what separates him!!!
1:12 2Q: Same as the last play note (plus, he crosses the LOS in a flash). Confidence in his eyes! He just trusts it… no hesitation.
2:49 3Q: He has deep half or quarters but matches one-on-one versus slot-WR. ***Important to note: I actually like him a lot more in man than when playing zone in a lot of space backed off deep. Great job here of READING THE WR’s ROUTE and using LEVERAGE to render WR useless when ball is in air (and targeted to the WR).
Penn State
1:51 2Q: TE44 (Tyler Warren) knocks him over on iso block
6:13 3Q: He’s following TE44 around the field in cvg. Great job here of getting over the “rub” concept. Arrives in a flash! IMPORTANT: This was a third-and-9 design to TE44 to create YAC for the first down. Downs gets there so quickly that TE44 makes the catch but gains only a yard or two. GREAT JOB UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT AND THE DOWN-DISTANCE!
5:42 4Q: Fourth-and-goal: Man-to-man cvg vs. WR 16. Reads/reacts to route. PBU. Another example of reading WRs route effectively and showing up big in key moment!
Purdue
15:00 1Q: Allows ROT to get into his frame on 2nd level block and gets driven 10 yards away from the ball.
Northwestern
0:40 2Q: Takes on block and gets twisted around. Fails to make play.
6:59 3Q: Nice job driving on ball in front of him. Solid open-field tackle to limit TE YAC.
Indiana
13:04 1Q: Playing up as SS. Deciphers play, locates ball and meets RB in hole for no gain.
***Gets caught up in traffic a couple more times near the LOS in this game.
Michigan
0:21 1Q: Blitzes off edge, discards RB (in pass pro) in a flash and flushes QB out of pocket. Forces rushed throw for incompletion.
15:00 2Q: 4th and GL. Early beat on the ball and stands up RB. GL stand!
3:16 2Q: Great read, flies to ball. PERFECT ANGLE. Makes the stop along SL.
4:06 3Q: INT. Shows blitz, drops in underneath zone. Reads QB’s eyes and makes a nice catch (scoops it up behind him).
Tennessee (CFP)
***Playing more of a shallow-3rd DS (just a couple yards behind LBs) in this game.
12:46 1Q: Spying Nico. Takes away his running crease, flushes him out wide and is there to limit any real gain on the scramble. Valuable asset in this role!
12:10 1Q: 7 yds off the LOS over the center… Diagnoses, flies upfield, take-on and tackle.
9:29 2Q: Another example of him in a bit more space with ball thrown behind him = less effective
Oregon (CFP)
8:50 1Q: Reads QBs eyes. Makes early break on ball to his right (in front of him). Almost has INT (would have been bang-bang pick, but could have made it). Gets PBU.
13:09 2Q: Really nice play from 7 yards off LOS. Locates ball, flies to it and makes nice tackle in the hole.
9:28 2Q: REALLY GOOD JOB picking up crosser (passed off to him) and tracking WR from behind. He jumps in front of WR, who is on the ground after slipping, and almost makes the diving INT. Another missed INT opportunity but still a great play.
8:05 2Q: Great job in trail. Baits QB and closes in flash. Almost makes INT diving with outstretched.
Texas (CFP semi)
13:04 3Q: Takes inside angle vs working over the top of WR’s block. Taken out of play. Not like him but coaching moment.
6:34 3Q: This time he shows more patience versus the screen. Stays unblocked and makes tackle. In-game adjustment!
5:40 3Q: Fourth-and-3!! Comes flying off the edge to make the stop on inside handoff.
6:15 4Q: Fails to see TE 85 (Helm) release late off LOS. Great play design but 2 needs to recognize this earlier. Dropping into zone coverage (and sitting back to decipher route combos) is not always his strongest suit.
1:53 4Q: (Leading 28-14 but Texas making last-ditch effort with 2min drill) – Downs drops, reads QB’s eyes, charges forward and makes game-sealing INT (easy body catch).
Notre Dame (CFP championship)
0:29 1Q: Nice job holding his water, fighting off WR block and making stop on QB Leonard keeper around the edge.
3:13 3Q: Comes flying up to help on tackle (to limit WR YAC), but he comes in too hot, WR spin moves him, and takes it to the house. Critical error here.
14:46 4Q: Great job keeping outside contain, fighting off block in a hurry, and making the open-field tackle versus WR6 on jet-sweep.
