When the 2026 NFL Draft’s first round got to pick seven, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs was still waiting for a call as he watched three of his teammates get drafted before him – Carnell Tate, Arvell Reese, and Sonny Styles. The Dallas Cowboys had to trade up from No. 12, swapping spots with the Miami Dolphins, to make sure he didn’t slip one further. Dallas got their player. But Downs made it clear that he noticed every player who got picked over him.

On The White House with Michael Irvin, streaming on Netflix, Downs revealed what it felt like to be in the room on draft night longer than expected.

“Like any competitor, you love to see it,” Downs said. “You love to see your guys go. My guys from Ohio State, I was happy to see them go and everything. But I felt like I should have been picked earlier. So that was life, definitely, ‘whatever,’ to me.”

The longer wait proved fruitful as he was glad to see the Dallas area code on display; the feeling changed to “Let’s do it.” He admitted the “best-case scenario” was Dallas moving to get him, and he is happy with the way things turned out.

“The excitement my parents have, the excitement I have about playing for Dallas, it replaces all that little bit of competitive anger inside of me,” Downs continued. “It takes it away a little bit. So, excited to get to work. At the end of the day, there’s no better team to play for.”

Michael Irvin, the legendary Cowboys wide receiver, knew that feeling and picked up on it immediately. He was the 11th overall pick in 1988 – the same slot where Downs just landed – and told Downs on the show that the Green Bay Packers had been calling him to draft him, but he said no. The Packers had the seventh overall pick in that draft, but Michael passed them and chose to “land in Dallas” instead.

“I said, ‘I’m willing to give up a few dollars on the front end, because I’m gonna make way more millions on the back end,’” Irvin recalled. “And I’m still here making ‘em. After making millions faking knuckles out with my hips, I’m here talking about it, and making millions talking about it with my lip. And all because of the Dallas Cowboys. Caleb, you’re going to have these opportunities.”

Irvin, alongside quarterback Troy Aikman and running back Emmitt Smith, became the “triplets” that shaped the Cowboys’ 90s dynasty. Decades later, Caleb Downs arrives in Dallas with similar expectations of turning around a franchise. The triplets had changed Dallas’ offense forever, and Downs has to do the same for their defense now. So when the question turned to what actually separates Downs from others on the field, his answer went straight to the point.

“I feel like it’s just my mind, honestly. I play at a high standard,” Downs said. “I push other people to a high standard. I feel like that’s the biggest thing, just setting the tone, especially on the defense, where you have to set the tone every day. Somebody has to be able to set the standard for how everything has to go. So, I’m just excited to do my part of that. … And in terms of my game, just being instinctual. Being instinctual, playing in a lot of different areas, being very versatile.”

Downs has the hardware to back that claim up as well. In 44 career starts across Alabama and Ohio State, Downs posted 257 tackles, 16 TFLs, and six picks. Over his two seasons with the Buckeyes, he didn’t allow a single touchdown. What’s more, throughout his career, he has lined up as a deep safety, a slot defender, a box safety, and has even dabbled with outside corner snaps. That gives new defensive coordinator Christian Parker endless options to throw offenses into confusion.

Michael Irvin and Caleb Downs both sat longer than expected, watching other teams make their picks. Both landed at the same number in Dallas, and both have treated the slide as fuel. And if praises weren’t enough, Downs has already backed it up with action in Dallas.

Three days into minicamp, and Caleb Downs is already standing out

The Cowboys’ rookie minicamp ran from May 1st to 3rd at the Star in Frisco. By the end of it, head coach Brian Schottenheimer was running out of ways to sound measured about his 11th overall pick.

“The person, elite. The intelligence, elite,” Schottenheimer said. “It’s cool for me on the field to watch the ability for him to be going in any direction and how quickly he can get into balance. Why that matters is it matters with the ability to tackle in open field space, make plays on the ball in coverage, and time up blitzes.”

But Schottenheimer didn’t stop there. He also described Downs’ technique and body control with the precision of a position coach.

“He’s just got incredible lower-body athleticism that when you watch him, he always gets into that same position where he’s ready to strike with the same foot, same shoulder, whether it’s left foot forward, right foot forward,” Schottenheimer continued. “The way he moves in the individual periods, which is really what mostly this camp is going to be, it’s very impressive how he can do that.”

Downs had demanded the defensive playbook from Christian Parker the moment he walked through the doors of The Star. At the minicamp, Parker spent a significant portion of the first practice working with Downs one-on-one after the team’s positional drills wrapped up. What he saw sparked a lot of hope for a defense that gave away 30.1 points per game last season.

“He’s a natural football player,” Parker declared. “He’s one of the first picks in the schoolyard. He’s going to have natural versatility. It’s a matter of what he can handle mentally and how we can fit everything together.”

It wasn’t just the coaches Downs impressed, either. Fellow rookie cornerback Devin Moore told reporters that Downs is already playing multiple spots in the secondary and has the entire playbook memorized. When Downs walked into The Star, he was visibly in awe of the five Lombardi Trophies on display there. The way he is attacking the camp now, it feels like he’s determined to bring a sixth one home to Dallas already.

Nine franchises decided Caleb Downs wasn’t worth a top-ten pick, with the New York Giants passing on him twice, taking his teammate Arvell Reese 5th overall and Francis Mauigoa with the 10th pick. But his head coach is already confident that he is going to be good for the Cowboys, less than a month after drafting him.