The Dallas Cowboys may have wound up with the best defensive player in the 2026 NFL Draft with Ohio State safety Caleb Downs at No. 11 overall — the 1st of 2 1st-round picks for the Cowboys.
ESPN’s Matt Bowen took it 1 step further, putting the Cowboys’ selection of Downs at the top of his list of the NFL’s “Most Impactful” offseason moves as the team reports to training camp in Oxnard, California.
“Under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who coached the secondary in Philadelphia last season, Downs will play the Cooper DeJean role — as a slot safety — in Dallas’ nickel packages,” Bowen wrote on July 28. “Downs can create disruption near the line of scrimmage, match in man coverage and find the ball in zone coverage. He had 22 run stops in three collegiate seasons, and I believe his on-ball production will elevate in the pros.”
Caleb Downs Could Already Have Pro Bowl Upside
Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton put Downs at the top of his list of 2026 draft picks who could earn Pro Bowl selections as rookies.
The 5-foot-11, 206-pound former 5-star recruit was a 3-time All-American in 3 college seasons and has drawn comparisons to Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed.
In 2024, Downs led the Buckeyes to a College Football Playoff national championship. In 2025, he was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back.
“Even though Downs is a safety, he can line up all over the field, which allows him to make key stops and plays on the ball,” Moton wrote. “Although safeties aren’t premium-position players, Downs will quickly garner respect around the league for his range and ball skills. Defensive backs who rack up pass breakups and generate turnovers have a good chance to make the Pro Bowl or All-Pro team. In the Cowboys’ revamped secondary, Downs could be a do-it-all chess piece who leads the club in multiple defensive categories.”
‘Accountability, Preparation & Work Ethic’ for Downs
Even though Downs just turned 21, he’s 1 of the few players in recent memory who could step into an NFL locker room and garner the kind of respect usually reserved for wily veterans.
“Downs’s accountability, preparation, and work ethic are legendary, and he’s an all-time force multiplier as a leader in the locker room,” The Ringer’s Todd McShay wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. ” … Downs grades out as a day-one starting safety and high-impact defender in the NFL. His instincts are damn near flawless (that’s where the Ed Reed comparisons begin and end, as Downs is not a ball-hawking center fielder like Reed was for the Ravens). Downs’s game compares most favorably to Eric Berry’s (fifth pick in 2010 and a five-time Pro Bowler) and Earl Thomas’s (14th pick in 2010 and a six-time Pro Bowler).”
Downs signed his 4-year, $28.9 million rookie contract after starting rookie minicamp.
Cowboys Might Have NFL’s Elite Safety Duo
The Cowboys had the NFL’s worst secondary in 2025, giving up a league-leading 4,276 passing yards.
This offseason, they’ve done everything they can to change that narrative and might have the NFL’s elite safety duo with Downs and free-agent signee Jalen Thompson.
Thompson was the headliner of the Cowboys’ 2026 free-agent class, signing a 3-year, $33 million contract. It was the 1st time the Cowboys spent more than $20 million on an open-market free agent in over a decade.
“The Cowboys made their first splash free-agent agreement since adding cornerback Brandon Carr on a five-year, $50 million deal in 2012,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote. “Thompson fills a major need in the secondary for the Cowboys. He has been a full-time starter the past five seasons with Arizona and has nine career interceptions … the Cowboys need a communicator in the secondary, and Thompson can make sure everybody is on the same page.”
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