After being named Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year in 2024, Downs has a real shot at winning college football’s most prestigious award.
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Sometimes it is hard to believe that Caleb Downs is only entering his junior season. The safety has been spectacular in his first two seasons in college football.
After becoming the first freshman to lead Alabama in tackles, recording 107 stops for the Crimson Tide in 2023, Downs transferred to Ohio State following the retirement of Alabama head coach Nick Saban. In his first season in Columbus, Downs was part of a veteran defense that was one of the toughest to crack in the country last season.
Now with Lathan Ransom, Denzel Burke, and Jordan Hancock gone from the secondary, even more responsibility is going to land on the shoulders of Downs. If his first two years of college football are any indication, Downs shouldn’t have any problem rising to the moment.
Downs and Alabama nearly made the title game two years ago, losing to Michigan in overtime in the CFP semifinal at the Rose Bowl. Last season, Downs was able to take care of some unfinished business, as the Buckeyes rebounded from the loss to Michigan at the end of the regular season to go on an incredible four-game run in the expanded College Football Playoff, beating Notre Dame in the title game.
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The list of accolades in Downs’ first two seasons of college football is pretty ridiculous. After earning First Team All-SEC honors and being named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2023, Downs was named First Team All-Big Ten, the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year, and a unanimous All-American.
The sophomore season for Downs should have included even more hardware since he was named a finalist for the Thorpe, Nagurski, and Lott IMPACT Awards. Although I’m sure Downs isn’t going to sweat not being named the winner of those national awards last year since Ohio State went on to win the national championship.
While the ultimate goal for Downs and the Buckeyes will be to repeat as national champions, the superstar safety has a great chance to be one of the few defensive players to win the Heisman Trophy. In the modern era, only two defensive players have won the award given annually to the top player in college football, and both of those players saw time on offense.
Last year, Travis Hunter lined up at both cornerback and wide receiver, while Charles Woodson primarily played cornerback in 1997, but did mix in some time at wide receiver to allow him to earn the upset victory over Tennessee’s Peyton Manning.
With Ohio State’s incredible talent and depth at the wide receiver position, don’t expect to see Downs lining up to catch passes from Julian Sayin this season. Last year Downs did practice at running back briefly, but he was never needed at the position since the Buckeyes already had Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson.
Maybe with Judkins and Henderson now in the NFL, Downs gets a few carries this season, although it’s hard to imagine that happening since Downs is too important to the defense to risk being injured by giving him a few carries to try and pad his Heisman resumé.
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So if Downs was going to supplement his defense stats by producing in another role, how would he do so? There’s an easy answer to that question! Downs has proven he can be an electric kick returner. In last year’s victory against Indiana, Downs notched Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown in 10 years when he took a punt by the Hoosiers back 79 yards for a score.
Overall, Downs returned six punts last year, averaging 16.3 yards per return. Despite Brandon Inniss possibly being the primary punt returner like he was last season, Downs will likely be called upon in big spots.
When it comes to the Buckeye who will likely be in contention for the Heisman Trophy this year, the smart money is on Jeremiah Smith. In a perfect world, Downs would win the golden stiffarm in 2025 and go on to be a top-10 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, while Smith follows up the triumph from Downs by winning the award in 2026.
If there was a year for a player who primarily lines up on defense to win, it would be this year since there is so much turnover when it comes to starting quarterbacks on the top teams around the country. Downs has already established himself as the top defensive player in the country, so he has a headstart on a lot of the field.
Is pushing for Downs a bit of a pipedream because of how defensive players have been treated over the years when it comes to the Heisman? It probably is, but if there was a player who could break through, Downs certainly has the talent to do so. It’s not often that safeties are looked at as top-10 NFL Draft picks, so that should tell you just how high the expectations for Downs are going forward.
If Downs is able to become the eighth Ohio State Buckeye to win the Heisman, there’s no question that he would have to be the best defensive player in school history.