Caleb Downs controversy: ‘The family is not happy’ — Sources push back on medical red flags for Ohio State star at NFL Combine
There’s a lot of smoke around Ohio State star S Caleb Downs’ health coming out of the combine.
The Ohio State Buckeyes were heavily represented at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, and no former player from Columbus is being talked about more than safety Caleb Downs—despite the star not taking part in workouts.
A report surfaced Sunday from Daft on Draft’s Cory Kinnan claiming Downs was flagged with a couple of medical red flags.
“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.”
As a result, the report spread rapidly across social media, reaching hundreds of thousands on X.
Caleb Downs medical concerns receive pushback
A to Z Sports dug deeper and learned the Downs family is not happy. They claim the report is clickbait and false, insisting there are no medical concerns whatsoever.
“Fake news… Too many people fueling a clickbait story already,” the source said.
In conversations with multiple NFL scouts, one called the knee injury report “BS,” adding, “All his medicals came back relatively clean.” Two other teams said Downs’ medicals were not a concern on their radar.
I also spoke with an orthopedic surgeon to better understand the idea of a degenerative ACL—something I wasn’t familiar with. I was told it is extremely rare, especially for someone in Downs’ age group. It typically appears in individuals in their 40s or 50s and is often linked to repetitive trauma or tissue-related conditions. The condition can lead to weakening of the ligaments.
Pat McAfee shoots down the noise around Caleb Downs
The situation was a major topic on The Pat McAfee Show Tuesday, where McAfee took a strong stance on the report surrounding the former Ohio State star.
“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 a football player he is,” McAfee said. “It feels like part of this entire process—who knows what’s real and what isn’t. But we do know this made its run on the internet. There were a lot of people around the league and fan bases saying, ‘Hold on.’”
“I was told Downs was flagged with a partially torn meniscus this week. That’s not a serious concern, but also being flagged with a potentially degenerative ACL—these are big deals when you’re talking about investing millions of dollars into a player, especially one who could be a franchise piece. But every NFL team we talked to—there wasn’t one that said anything was wrong. We talked to multiple teams. So it feels like this is all nonsense. But that’s the name of the game this time of year. It could even be a team trying to get him to fall.”
Caleb Downs’ draft stock will remain strong
Downs has put together three straight seasons of elite production at the safety position between his time at Ohio State and Alabama. With no substantiated medical concerns, there should be no real threat to his draft stock as more clarity emerges.
A to Z Sports currently has Downs ranked as the No. 7 player in its internal draft database. Given positional value, he may not crack the top five, but it would be a significant surprise if he falls outside the top 15 come April—where he has remained throughout the draft cycle.
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