Neither Jaylen McClain nor anyone else is expected to replace Caleb Downs. This year’s secondary will rely on everyone to make game-changing plays. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Ohio State won’t be able to replace Caleb Downs in the secondary with just one player, and it sounds like the Buckeyes aren’t even going to try.
Chicago, IL — Caleb Downs had 68 tackles, two interceptions and two pass break-ups for Ohio State last season. He also forced two fumbles, and five tackles came in the backfield.
If the numbers seem pedestrian, his presence was not.
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Downs won the Jim Thorpe Award and was a unanimous All-American because he was universally recognized as the straw that stirred the drink for the nation’s best defense.
Downs was listed at just 6-foot, 205, but he was the guy who made big plays when the Buckeyes needed them not only last season but even more so in 2024.
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Ohio State might not have hoisted the national championship trophy at the end of that season if not for Downs making multiple game-saving tackles during the College Football Playoff, including a shoestring stop in a tight win over Texas in the semifinals.
“TD saves” used to be listed in the official postgame stats when a player made a tackle of a runner that otherwise would have gone all the way. It’s a shame they aren’t anymore because that number would probably be one that glorified Downs’ impact even further.
But that stat, like Downs’ Ohio State career, is in the rearview mirror.
That means much of the talk about the Buckeye defense here at the Chicago Hilton on Wednesday was about how to replace Downs, who was chosen 11th overall in the NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.
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Turns out there is no plan to find the next Caleb Downs.
The way Jaylen McClain tells it, college football can expect to see something more like three CalebMinis this fall when the Buckeyes take the field.
He is one of the few holdovers from a 2025 defense that was historically good and uniquely talented for coordinator Matt Patricia.
Caleb Downs made key interceptions among his long list of big plays during his two seasons playing safety for Ohio State.
Linebackers Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles were first-round picks, too, and nose tackle Kayden McDonald heard his name called in the second round.
They’ll all be sorely missed, or so it is assumed, along with mega-productive defensive end Caden Curry and stalwart cornerback Davison Igbinosun.
McClain, who quietly had a very solid season himself as a sophomore last year, did not bring much bluster to the Windy City.
He did sound confident he and a slew of new faces can continue the renaissance of the Silver Bullets in the 30th anniversary of the first season that moniker was attached to the Ohio State defense.
“I feel like the standard is the standard at the end of the day,” McClain said. “Coach Patricia is going to make sure we’re ready to go so we can live up to our standards. At the end of the day, at Ohio State you cannot lose. Coach Day preaches that to us a lot, that we need to have a good day every day to be where we want to be.”
Should he be confident?
Well, that remains to be seen.
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Ohio State choosing to make McClain one of the three player representatives for Big Ten Media Days was interesting.
The other two — quarterback Julian Sayin and superstar receiver Jeremiah Smith — were obvious picks, but Kenyatta Jackson Jr. might have made sense for the third slot.
The senior defensive end is a captain candidate and was one of the prominent spokesmen during the spring.
Junior safety Jaylen McClain represented Ohio State at Big Ten Media Days. He is expected to do his part to make up for the departure of Caleb Downs to the NFL.
Retaining him was viewed as a key first step toward building another tough defense for 2026.
“Retain” is a buzzword these days that refers to, “Paid to forego the NFL Draft or enter the transfer portal.”
It requires “investment,” another popular word in college football offseason discussions and one Day used Wednesday.
Investing to retain players has become part of the process when it coms to NFL Draft prospects but also talented youngsters who might be poached by other colleges, as a handful of Ohio State players were last winter.
One they made sure did not get away was Devin Sanchez, who jumped over a couple of older players to be the Buckeyes’ third corner as a true freshman last season. He is in line to start opposite senior Jermaine Mathews Jr. and in place of Igbinosun.
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“Devin had a very good spring, but we’re going to need him to step up in a big way,” Day said. “It’s a completely different role. You’re going from a guy like IGB who really controlled that room and had a lot of production and played a lot of football to now somebody that has a tremendous amount of talent but hasn’t played a lot.
“So we’ve seen it in him. We know he can do it. We’re looking for consistency and somebody who can produce at a high level, but he certainly has the chance to do that. Jermaine is an experienced guy, but we need him to play experienced. Those guys we brought back in those roles and we have quite honestly invested in need to step up in big ways. That’s part of the deal.”
“Part of the deal,” as in: “We’re paying these guys to be good more than just hoping they are.”
Jackson, who had 11 tackles for loss and was second on the team with 6.5 sacks last season, is closer to a household name than McClain, so perhaps the coaching staff wanted to give the DB a chance to introduce him to a larger audience.
He conducted himself well in that regard, including talking up the guys expected to help him pick up the slack left from Downs’ departure.
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That includes transfers Earl Little Jr. and Terry Moore, seniors who were brought in from Florida State and Duke, respectively, rather than simply trusting young players to step up into starting roles, as traditionally would have been the case.
The latter might yet happen — Leroy Roker is knocking on the door at safety after solidifying a spot in the two-deep as a sophomore last season — but it’s an interesting strategy.
Day hedged his bets during transfer portal season, bringing in experience to at least raise the floor of what the 2026 defense can be even if some of the youngsters who remain on the bench might have more raw ability.
Now it’s up to Patricia to figure out how best to use the skills of multiple players after building his first Ohio State defense around players who could do it all — Downs, Styles and Reese.
“I’m very excited to see how we’re going to deploy from all areas of the field,” McClain said. “That leads people to ask the question if there is a Caleb Downs role, and I wouldn’t say that. I just feel like there are a lot of guys who can make plays and they’ll put us in the best position possible for good things to happen.
“I’m excited to see what those new people do with an opportunity because everybody has a different skillset and we’re trying to build that identity throughout training camp.”
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