Brian Schottenheimer: Cowboys were nervous about missing out on Caleb Downs

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The Cowboys traded up from No. 12 to No. 11 in the 2026 NFL draft to select Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, but they would have gladly traded higher than that. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said on the Twins Take Podcast that Downs as at the top of his team's wish list, and they had been trying to trade up higher before finally convincing the Dolphins to trade down one spot. "We were nervous," Schottenheimer said. "We had four guys targeted that we really felt really strongly about that would fit great in our culture and our football team, and Caleb was at the top of that list. We actually had a deal in place, we had a trade in place with Kansas City that we were hoping to be able to make a move for. Well, they moved up early in the draft [from No. 9 to No. 6] for Mansoor Delane and so we were kind of like, OK, we've lost that opportunity. But the the draft is the unknown. And so as Caleb started to fall, he was sitting their at No. 9, No. 10. The Giants were on the clock at 10. We thought they would take him because we knew Coach Harbaugh had talked about how much he saw him as a generational safety. And when they didn't take him, he fell to 11, the phone rang, we were talking back and forth with Miami. We could have sat and waited, but we were concerned someone might move ahead of us at 12. We knew everyone was interested in Caleb." Downs was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2023 at Alabama, then transferred to Ohio State, where he was a two-time first-team All-American and winner of the Jim Thorpe Award as the best defensive back in football history. It's easy to see why the Cowboys thought he'd be a Top 10 pick, and thought they got lucky when they had the chance to take him at No. 11.