Caleb Downs High School Stats: Looking at the Ohio State safety's career before college

By Kayode Akinwumi

Modified Nov 24, 2024 13:37 GMT

Follow Us

Share

0 Discuss

Caleb Downs played an important part on Saturday as Ohio State ended Indiana’s 10-game winning streak. Downs returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown as the No. 2 Buckeyes comfortably beat the No. 5 Hoosiers 38-15. The stellar performance has stirred conversations about how good the former Alabama safety is. Perhaps a way to grasp this is to look at his numbers from high school.

Downs is a product of Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Georgia. He played 13 games for the school varsity team as a freshman in 2019, completing 45 solo tackles and seven assisted tackles. His sophomore season featured 10 games in which he compiled 28 solo tackles and 29 assisted tackles.

The Ohio State safety then recorded 57 solo tackles in each of his junior and senior seasons. In addition, he made 20 assisted tackles as a junior and 26 in his senior season. In all, Downs finished his high school career with 187 solo tackles and 82 assisted tackles, totaling 269 tackles.

Caleb Downs’ recruiting profile revisited

Caleb Downs was a five-star prospect out of high school. He was the consensus No. 1 prospect from Georgia in his class, as well as the consensus No. 1 safety nationally. He ranked No. 5 overall on the On3 Industry Ranking.

Downs was offered by 34 programs, as per 247Sports. These included Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Alabama. He eventually enrolled at Alabama over his home state school, Georgia.

His only season at Alabama coincided with legendary coach Nick Saban's last season in charge of the Crimson Tide. He concluded the season with a spot in the second-team All-American and the first-team All-SEC. He was named the SEC Freshman of the Year.

However, Caleb Downs opted for the transfer portal after his freshman season, transferring to Ryan Day's Ohio State Buckeyes. He has been impactful on the Buckeyes’ defense this season as they challenge for the Big Ten title. They are currently second in the Big Ten with a 10-1 record behind the undefeated Oregon Ducks.

Downs has compiled 27 solo tackles in addition to 18 assisted tackles in his defensive duties for the program. He and the Buckeyes will face reigning Big Ten and national champions Michigan on Nov. 30. They will be up against a Michigan team that has had an underwhelming season, putting pressure on first-year coach Sherrone Moore to close the regular season with a win.