Why Ohio State football is adding to role for safety Caleb Downs early in preseason camp
Why Ohio State football is adding to role for safety Caleb Downs early in preseason camp
Ohio State has been using safety Caleb Downs as a nickelback early in its preseason practices.
The movement has allowed the Buckeyes to provide more reps for others at the free and strong safeties.
“Caleb’s such a versatile player that you can move him into different spots to give those other guys a chance to get on the field,” defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said.
At one point during the Buckeyes’ second preseason practice on Aug. 1, Downs had lined up in coverage in the slot with Jaylen McClain and Leroy Roker as the deep safeties. Both McClain and Roker are pushing alongside Malik Hartford for larger roles as deep safeties.
The Buckeyes lost two of their three starting safeties from last season – Jordan Hancock, who was the nickel, and Lathan Ransom, who was a deep safety with Downs.
The nickel would not present a drastic position switch to Downs. Nearly a third of his snaps as a freshman at Alabama two years ago were as a slot corner, as defined by Pro Football Focus, and as an All-American with the Buckeyes last fall, he played 160 out of his 917 defensive snaps in such a role, according to the analytics website.
Ohio State had also used Downs closer to the line of scrimmage on a more frequent basis later in the year. He ended up with 82 tackles, the third most among the Buckeyes.
