How Alabama freshman Caleb Downs has handled increased snaps at Star

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama’s Caleb Downs has lived up to expectations in his first year with the Crimson Tide. The former Five-Star Plus recruit is the team’s leading tackler after 12 games and earlier this week, was named the On3 Defensive True Freshman of the Year.

That doesn’t shock those who have watched his game, including those on the other sideline.

“He don’t look like a freshman at all,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “He looks like a guy that’s been playing for three years. He’s instinctive. He’s fast. He’s fearless. He’s everything that he was in high school. I’ve seen him play in about 100 7-on-7 games at our stadium and at our facility when his high school team came over here all the time. He’s everything that we thought he was. Punt returner. Just a football player that is instinctive, great tackler. 

“Just what you draw up when you want a defensive back.”

Downs will return to his home state of Georgia, where he was rated the No. 1 player in the 2023 recruiting cycle, on Saturday to take on the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game. The true freshman has been in the starting lineup for all 12 of the Crimson Tide’s regular-season games, and a title game matchup against the nation’s top-ranked team should be different.

Only, Downs has lined up at a different position of late. He started the season as a strong safety, and while he learned other spots in the secondary and moved around, he has been seen in the slot at the Star, or nickel defensive back, position more in recent games. In the win over Auburn, Downs played 34 of his 60 defensive reps at Star, according to Pro Football Focus. 

That was 10 more than any game this year, and Downs has worked out of the slot 20 or more times in each of the last three games. Head coach Nick Saban explained why on Friday.

“We started doing that in the Kentucky game, especially when they played bigger people,” Saban said. “He’s handled it very, very well. He gives a little bigger body at Star. A guy that can play the runs and stuff a little better. That was the thinking behind it, and that’s why we did it. But it’s not been an issue at all for him and his learning curve.”

Alabama will be facing a bigger body this weekend in Atlanta in Georgia’s star tight end Brock Bowers (6-foot-4, 240 pounds). Bowers, while dealing with an ankle injury, is the best player at his position in the country and will be a challenge for the entire Crimson Tide defense.

Could Downs be called on to defend the All-American in the league title game? Where he has lined up in recent weeks suggests it’s a possibility. The freshman has had solid coverage this season, earning a PFF grade of 87.1 (5th nationally) in addition to his five forced incompletions, two interceptions and team-high 95 tackles. Whoever is assigned it faces a tall task.

“He’s such a good athlete and he runs so well,” Saban said of Bowers. “He’s got like wide receiver-type ability to run and catch at that size, and that’s a mismatch because a DB – it’s like a power forward in basketball being guarded by a smaller guy. It’s a huge advantage for a guy that size, and then it’s hard to find a linebacker that’s his size that is athletic enough to guard them.”

Senior Malachi Moore has also manned the Star position this fall but has repped at safety when Downs moves down in the box. Both players will be key in the SEC Championship Game, but the veteran likes what he has seen from Downs since he enrolled almost a year ago.

“Caleb’s a great player for us,” Moore said. “He comes in each and every week willing to learn and wanting to learn and preparing like a starter, like he is, preparing like a veteran, like he’s playing like. He’s doing a great job for us and playing Star this week, it was a little challenging at first just because he had never played it in the game. But I think he did a great job for us, and he will continue to be a great player for us.”

Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!

Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $1! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!