Dream Cowboys Draft Prospect Gets Good News After 'Medical Red Flag' Rumors

"Medical red flag" surfaced around star draft prospect Caleb Downs at the NFL Combine, but the Dallas Cowboys have nothing to worry about with their dream pick.

Ohio State defensive back Caleb Downs speaks to the media during the NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. | Jacob Musselman-Imagn Images

With NFL draft season in full swing, the Dallas Cowboys have been linked to a handful of Ohio State Buckeyes stars in the flurry of mock drafts we have seen.

Whether it be linebackers Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese or do-it-all safety Caleb Downs, several Buckeyes prospects would be good fits in new defensive coordinator Christian Parker's scheme.

Downs is widely considered the best overall prospect in this year's class, but some concerns surfaced after the NFL Combine with rumors of a "medical red flag" due to issues with his ACL and MCL.

However, it looks like those concerns can be put to rest, following a report from ESPN's Pat McAfee. During Tuesday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee revealed that "multiple NFL teams" have said there are no medical alarms for Downs that would impact his draft stock.

There is no significant concern with his knee..

The stock of Caleb Downs will not drop because of any medical #PMSLive https://t.co/EGfloGJoaq pic.twitter.com/hFxzU3Ooai

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 3, 2026

"Multiple NFL teams have told us there is nothing in the medical that would deter us from bringing Caleb Downs in, especially with how great of a football player it is," McAfee shared. "It feels like this is a part of this entire process, and who knows what's real and what isn't, but we do know that this kind of made its run on the internet. There's a lot of people from around the league, not fan bases that were like, hold on, Howard, I was told Downs was flagged with partially torn meniscus this week. That is not a serious concern, but also being flagged with a potentially degenerative ACL.

"It's like these are big deals, obviously, whenever you're talking about investing millions of dollars into a player, especially one that could be a franchise player like Caleb Downs. But every NFL team we talked to, there wasn't one NFL team that we talked to this morning that said anything was wrong. And we talked to multiples. So this feels like it's all bullsh*t, but this is kind of the name of the game at this time because that might be a team that likes him the most that is putting that out there, actually, hoping that he will fall a little bit."

That's the cruel game that teams play leading up to the draft, but it could work out in the Cowboys' favor. If Downs is available when Dallas is on the clock at No. 12 overall, the team should run their draft card to the podium with Downs' name jotted down.

Last season, Downs recorded 68 tackles, five tackles for a loss, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.

Ohio State Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs celebrates a defensive stop during the 2025 Cotton Bowl in the College Football Playoff | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

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