Caleb Downs
Caleb Downs
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. Two head coaches in three seasons, at two different programs. Lott IMPACT in 2025 made it three straight seasons on the honors list. The receipt on tape: 9 tackles against Illinois, Week 7, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- recognition record
- game log
How it ended
Three seasons at Ohio State, 256 tackles, a Unanimous All-American season (2024) — drafted at #11 overall by Dallas.
Career Arc
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · UNANIMOUS
Unanimous AA (2025)
Named to 10 first-team selectors
POSITION AWARDS
Thorpe
2025 season
ALL-CONFERENCE · 1ST TEAM
All-Conf 1st team (2025)
All-Big Ten
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Ryan Day.
Where He Ended Up · NFL
Dallas2026 NFL rookie season
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Ryan Day
Awards
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 4 · EliteR14 · Unanimous All-American
Unanimous All-American. First-team on every major selector list.
Recognition
Production
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · UNANIMOUS
Unanimous AA (2025)
Named to 10 first-team selectors
POSITION AWARDS
Thorpe
2025 season
ALL-CONFERENCE · 1ST TEAM
All-Conf 1st team (2025)
All-Big Ten
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ohio State | 68 | 45 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 2 | -- |
| 2024 | Ohio State | 81 | 48 | 7.5 | 0.5 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| 2023 | Alabama | 107 | 70 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 3 | 2 | -- |
| Career | 256 | 163 | 16.0 | 1.5 | 10 | 6 | 1 |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2025
W 24–6
at Washington
2 TOT · 2 SOLO
How he plays
Play style
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
CFB Index positional classification
DNA match
Player DNA
Box Safety
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Quinn Perry’s 2022 season.
Matches Quinn on
Differs from Quinn on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Alex Odom's junior season at Temple (2022).
Matches Alex on