Caleb Downs’ presence was part of the reason the Ohio State Buckeyes won last season’s College Football National Championship. He returns to Columbus this season as the most attractive prospect in next year’s NFL Draft class, Todd McShay believes.
Todd McShay Calls Ohio State’s Caleb Downs Best Player In 2026 NFL Draft
Caleb Downs enters the upcoming college football season as what many believe to be the best defensive player in the country. The Ohio State Buckeyes’ safety, a unanimous All-American, could also be the biggest talent in next year’s 2026 NFL Draft, NFL draft analyst Todd McShay believes.
“It is rare — it’s rare — for a safety to be best player in the draft,” McShay said last Thursday on “The McShay Show.” “If he’s out there, I didn’t see him, I didn’t see a player who was just a better football player and a better prospect than Caleb Downs last year. Now, I understand, safeties typically don’t go this high. We thought Kyle Hamilton was gonna go top-three, probably should have, but he didn’t run well.”
Downs had 82 total tackles for Ryan Day’s team last season, the third-most of any Buckeye. He also posted a pair of interceptions and six pass break-ups.
“The fun part with Caleb is, he’s as mentally sharp as he is physically gifted,” McShay said. “I loved watching how quick he got jumps on the football, how quickly he reacted to run and filled the alley, how quickly he was able to diagnose, like, a pattern combination and hand off and pick up the receivers on combo routes. … Then they moved him into that free safety look.”
Georgia’s Malaki Starks (No. 27 overall, Baltimore) was the only safety taken in the first round this year. Hamilton was also drafted by the Ravens (No. 14) in 2022 and has since recorded 250 combined tackles and earned a first-team Associated Press All-Pro nod in 2023. Those two are the only safeties selected in the first round since 2020.
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“The tough part for him will be, there’s no wiggle room when you’re a safety,” said McShay’s co-host, Steve Muench. “He’s gotta test super well, he’s gotta have another great year. … I don’t think he’ll go as late as Malaki Starks, but it’ll be one of those things where (it’s like), ‘Oh, I can’t take a safety there.’ And then someone will draft him in the top 10, maybe just outside of it, and get just a hell of a player.”
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