The Pittsburgh Steelers formally met with Caleb Downs last week at the NFL Scouting Combine, a curious move being that the Ohio State safety is one of the top prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft.
After Daft on Draft's Cory Kinnan dropped a bombshell in his notebook on Sunday, the gathering might not have been as pointless as it seemed.
"I was told by an NFC scout that Ohio State all-class safety Caleb Downs had a couple of issues flagged during his medical check," Kinnan wrote . "Nobody expected him to test this week anyway, so it flew a bit under the radar. However, I was told that downs was flagged with a partially torn meniscus this week. That is not a serious concern, but also being flagged with a potentially degenerative ACL is.
"Now, this is not to signify any sort of significant drop for Downs, who likely will return and get a second opinion and a second check. Besides, plenty of NFL players have been flagged with degenerative knees before, but have gone on to have successful NFL careers."
Downs, a two-time consensus All-American, is tabbed as the No. 8 overall prospect in this year's draft on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board. The Steelers own the No. 21 overall pick in the order.
NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein spoke glowingly of Downs in a scouting report, comparing him to the Houston Texans ' Jalen Pitre .
"Productive, high-effort safety with three years of starting experience in big games at Alabama and Ohio State," Zierlein wrote. "Downs is an alpha who brings immense juice on each snap. He's at his best when deployed near the line as a box safety or big nickel back. … Downs isn't the biggest, fastest or most versatile player, but he consistently puts his stamp on games."
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Could Caleb Downs Plummet to Steelers? It's Not Impossible
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