00:00And we're blitzing today and every day on Grant and Danny at 4 o'clock.
00:04Next hour, I want to get into what TJ Oshie had to say about Alex Ovechkin.
00:08He was on a podcast, and they asked him,
00:10what do you think Ovi's going to do?
00:11And then in his answer, he explains that he had spent a couple hours
00:15the night before drinking with Ovi.
00:17He's like, well, you might have some insight.
00:19Maybe loose lips or something like that.
00:21Maybe somebody said something.
00:22So let's play some of that audio for you coming up in about 40 minutes
00:27on the fan.
00:27But it is time right now to count down to the NFL Draft.
00:31Ten different prospects in the ten shows leading up to the draft the march is on.
00:49Let's see who we'll be talking about today.
00:51It's time to spin the wheel.
00:54They really were.
01:11Caleb Downs, safety.
01:14Ohio State.
01:19T-7.
01:21It's intercepted!
01:26Caleb Downs!
01:28Caleb Downs!
01:29They got 23 out of it, and now Coleman trying to cut it outside.
01:33Spun around and dropped by who else?
01:36Caleb Downs.
01:54Caleb Downs is a badass.
01:56Yep.
01:57He is a great football player.
01:59He was a superstar for Ohio State in college.
02:02And think about this.
02:03That program, national championship runs, elite play at the highest level last couple of years.
02:10They're going to have four guys go in the top ten.
02:12He basically ran the defense and ran the locker room.
02:15You know, with the guys like Arvel Reese and Sonny Stiles and those players,
02:19Caleb Downs was the dude getting him in the huddle and giving the final speech, so to speak,
02:23as the captain.
02:24This was a five-star recruit out of high school who was a top 15 player in the country when
02:29he came out.
02:29Now, he's a dog, and one of the great things I heard, I think it was on Take Command with
02:33Logan,
02:34that we heard this from somebody, but, was like, he's your football player's favorite football player.
02:39Like, he's that kind of dude, just disruptor.
02:43He can live around the line of scrimmage as a safety, blows plays up in the backfield.
02:47He takes players on as if he's a lot bigger than he is.
02:51He slashes into the backfield against the run.
02:54He's a human wrecking ball like a Mike linebacker tackler, and he gets you on the ground.
02:58He's not going to miss tackles.
03:00My problem with Caleb Downs is the size, and everybody has wanted to make this some kind of, like,
03:07he's the next Kyle Hamilton storyline.
03:10He's Nicky Minwarrior or whatever, and he's just not that big.
03:13I think he's Buda Baker, which is a great thing.
03:16I'll take that, too, by the way, but I think we have to quantify it correctly.
03:19I worry a little bit about him dealing with huge tight ends in the middle of the field,
03:22although the tape would say against Michigan and others, he's done that against big tight ends in college,
03:26but that would be my one concern, but this is a guy last year who had five TFLs,
03:31seven and a half the year before, just a physical, willing dog competitor.
03:36He screams to me like a Dan Quinn, Adam Peters player in the way that Mike Sandler still did.
03:42To me, the only complaint, and you just referenced it, is he's not Kyle Hamilton,
03:47which is not kind of the new prototype at the position, but there's a lot of Eric Berry,
03:51a lot of Buda Baker.
03:52There's a lot of guys around that six foot, 205 pounds.
03:54If you weren't toting the rock, then you were hitting the guy that was, which is the safety spot.
03:58He's a, who's that type player?
04:00In other words, you don't know anything about anything, and you have no rosters in front of you.
04:03You got no scouting reports.
04:05You turn on the Ohio State University.
04:08You notice him within three plays.
04:10When the other team has the ball, you're going to see Caleb Downs flying to the football,
04:14disrupting things, hitting people, laying wood all over the football field.
04:18He's the first guy you notice, in a sea, by the way, of players that half the first round
04:23is basically Ohio State defenders, or half the top ten, really.
04:27He is a star.
04:28I think he's a stud.
04:29To me, the knock is he's a safety.
04:32Okay?
04:33That's kind of it.
04:34I mean, so it's a positional value conversation for a lot of folks.
04:38He's as good to me as anybody in this class.
04:40That's the thing.
04:42I mean, if you're just ranking football players, like that's the list where Jeremiah loves number one.
04:47If you have Jeremiah loves number one in your draft board, you should probably have Caleb
04:50Downs in your top three, definitely in your top five, because you don't care that much
04:54about positional value, obviously, and you're essentially ranking based on the quality of
04:58the player in the present, and there's just nothing that he doesn't really do.
05:02I mean, he started his college career making 70 tackles in the SEC at Bama before going
05:05to Ohio State the last couple years as an All-American, but what can't he do?
05:10I think that the very real and legitimate questions are about the size, probably, where he's
05:155'11 and a half, essentially, but where I've struggled with him, and I'm glad I don't have
05:23to do a big board or anything like that, Danny, is like the present versus the projection.
05:27I don't know how much there is left in the tank that you don't see.
05:30There also doesn't need to be a lot, probably, in that way, if we're being honest, because
05:35how much more do you need than what he's already shown?
05:38I think if you want to get super steamed up watching a player, putting on the Jeremiah
05:47Love tape is maybe the best way to do that.
05:49Caleb Downs might be next.
05:51I think if you just want to go, who's the guy that when he plays football, it's how it's
05:57supposed to be done?
05:58Like, it's teach tape.
05:59It's what you would want a kid to watch.
06:01I think Caleb Downs is right there at the top of that conversation.
06:04Yeah, so one of the scouting reports I've read is, you know, obviously super smart, leader,
06:07as you were talking about, but this one quotes, Downs thrives in disguise-heavy defenses that
06:12value interchangeable safety, showcasing exceptional coverage ability and physicality against the
06:16run, a.k.a.
06:18You know, people go, well, this is a box safety, and you can find a way to use that.
06:22That's helpful.
06:22This is a, anything you want done, we can do.
06:26Disguise-heavy is music to my ears, because can you think of any defensive coordinators that
06:30might be doing something like that?
06:31Coming here to Washington, out of a Brian Flores tree, a lot of disguise, right?
06:35You're mugging the tight end, next thing you know, you're dropping back into a, maybe
06:39middle or even a deep zone, you're, you know, looking like you're backpedaling, next thing
06:42you know, you're flying up, making a play on stuff, interchangeable parts.
06:45This is a football player.
06:47Go Scott McClendon.
06:48So, I really like Jaden Daniels coming out, and I would always bring up the questions I
06:51had about him that I think were fair and reasonable and still think are fair, right?
06:56It turned into somehow, like, you don't like a player.
06:58And I think that's probably how people are going to assume with my questions with Caleb
07:02Downs.
07:02I love Caleb Downs, but I do wonder when he's dealing with a six-foot, four-inch tight end
07:07in the middle of the field and man, you know, running down the seam, how that's going to
07:11go.
07:12I feel a lot better about him downhill in the box, blowing things up in the backfield.
07:16I think he could be elite at that than, like, in space in center field or, like, in the
07:21back end of the defense.
07:23Not to say he can't do it.
07:24Those are just my questions.
07:25But, I'll say this, if Washington takes Caleb Downs seven, I'll be very happy after the
07:30draft on night one.
07:32I think they're getting an outstanding player, a great leader, a guy you'll never have to
07:36worry about in the locker room.
07:38You're 10-10 Caleb Downs to the Ohio State Buckeye.
07:42Double plays next on Grant and Danny here on The Fan.
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