A lot of the talk coming into this NFL Draft has been about Fernando Mendoza and then the perceived lack of star power behind the Heisman Trophy winner. The teams outside of Las Vegas have some tough decisions to make, with a lot of good prospects, but not many great ones expected to go in the first round.
However, one of the other players that has been dubbed a future superstar in this class is Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. Downs burst onto the scene as a true freshman at Alabama before transferring to Ohio State for his final two seasons. During his time with the Buckeyes. Downs was the quarterback of two historic defenses, including one that won a national championship.
Downs is one of the best safety prospects in recent memory. He is a compact, instinctual player who is a missile against the run. Whichever team drafts him will be able to use him down in the box, but he is also a great coverage player who can play down by the line of scrimmage or in the deep part of the field.
Whichever team gets Downs in the NFL Draft is getting a player that can transform its defense immediately. Where are the best landing spots for him?
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are coming off of a season where they had one of the worst defenses in football, and those shortcomings wasted an epic season from Dak Prescott and the offense.
Prescott isn't getting any younger, but he is still one of the best signal-callers in the league. The offense should stay near the top of the league with him throwing the ball to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, who will likely play on the franchise tag in 2026, which means all of the focus this offseason should be on fixing the defense to get the Cowboys back into contention.
With the 12th pick in the NFL Draft this April, the Cowboys should be shooting for best player available on defense. Downs is just that, and would give new defensive coordinator Christian Parker a versatile chess piece in the back seven that he could deploy in a number of different ways. It's going to take more than just one player to completely turn this Dallas defense around, but getting Downs would be a great start.
Cincinnati Bengals
Perhaps the only team that was worse on the defensive side of the ball last season than the Cowboys was the historically bad Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals were dealing with the injury to Joe Burrow for most of the season, but Cincinnati's shortcomings on defense gave it no chance of staying in playoff contention even with Joe Flacco playing well at quarterback.
With Trey Hendrickson likely leaving this offseason, there's an argument to be made that the Bengals could use nine or 10 new starters defensively. It's going to be nearly impossible to pull that off, so the Bengals are probably looking at another tough season on defense next season.
Even if that is indeed the case, Downs would give the Bengals a cornerstone on that side of the ball that can patch up some of the holes that this unit has shown in recent years. He would be the easy pick for Cincinnati if he falls all the way down to No. 10.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams are picking No. 13 in the NFL Draft this spring despite making it all the way to the NFC Championship Game and nearly taking down the eventual Super Bowl champion Seahawks. That is a result of a trade during the 2025 draft that netted James Pearce Jr. for the Falcons.
Los Angeles doesn't have many needs in this draft, especially on the offensive side now that Matthew Stafford has confirmed his return in 2026. The LA defense under Chris Shula was also very good, but could use some more players in the back end.
Adding Downs to pair with Quentin Lake at safety would make this Los Angeles secondary one of the best in the NFC and would give the Rams the scheme versatility that they lacked somewhat in 2025. Having a defensive back that defends the run as well as Downs does would allow Shula to stay in nickel personnel more often and still defend the run, which is something that the Seahawks defense did very well and that the Seahawks offense took advantage of against the Rams in 2025.
For a team that is already as talented as the Rams are, taking the best player available makes a lot of sense, and Downs happens to be a perfect fit on top of that.
