Star defensive back Caleb Downs has been the subject of injury concerns, with some saying he could fall in the draft because of it.
However, ESPN’s Pat McAfee said teams don’t appear to be worried and are more focused on him being one of the best players in the draft cycle.
“Caleb Downs, there’s a report coming out, and who knows what’s real and what isn’t, but we do know that even the people that aren’t considered real, if their s— generates enough traffic it does become a topic of conversation for people around the league, especially if it involves somebody who was deemed a Hall of Famer the first day they were on campus at Alabama,” McAfee [said](https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2026/03/161756/nfl-teams-pat-mcafee-no-concerns-caleb-downs-knee-potentially-degenerative-acl#:~:text=%E2%80%9CCaleb%20Downs%2C%20there's%20a%20report,was%20deemed%20a%20Hall%20of), per Eleven Warriors.
“We reached out to the Downs family, and the Downs family immediately sent us to a ‘Suit.’ Sent a thumbs up, never gonna do that. So then we go to a couple of NFL teams and we tried to do a little follow-up on what we have heard. Multiple NFL teams have told us there is nothing in the medical that would deter us from bringing Caleb Downs in, especially with how great of a football player he is.”
Downs has been widely regarded as one of the top defensive prospects in football, as he dominated the Big Ten with Ohio State.
For now, McAfee’s comments suggest teams aren’t seeing anything medically that would change how highly they value the young safety. Hopefully, that will be the case throughout.
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