Ohio State safety Caleb Downs wins Thorpe Award

COLUMBUS — Ohio State junior superstar safety Caleb Downs has already been named a unanimous All-American in his illustrious career. He already has a national championship with the Buckeyes, an SEC title from his time at Alabama and plenty of other awards.

Now the Big Ten’s Defensive Player of the Year has been named the best defensive back in college football.

Downs won the Thorpe Award on Friday night, an honor given annually to the country’s best defensive back. He’s just the third Ohio State player to ever win the award, joining Antoine Winfield in 1998 and Malcolm Jenkins in 2008.

In his impressive junior campaign, Downs has 60 total tackles, five tackles for loss, a sack, two interceptions and two pass deflections. But it might be what he does without the ball that makes him such a good player for the Buckeyes — and a top-10 vote-earner in the Heisman Trophy race.

Downs was also named a Walter Camp Football Foundation first-team All-American on Friday night. So far this postseason, the junior safety and future first-round draft pick in the NFL has been named to the first-team lists from On3, CBS Sports, The Athletic and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. And he could become the second two-time unanimous All-American selection to play for Ryan Day. The first, of course, was wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2022 and 2023.

This all comes after the Buckeyes’ star safety won the Lott IMPACT Trophy last weekend. Named after Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott, the Lott IMPACT Trophy is given annually to the Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year, which the award deems as the player “who has had the biggest impact on his team both on and off the field.” IMPACT stands for “Integrity,” “Maturity,” “Performance,” “Academics,” “Community” and “Tenacity.”

Caleb Downs is the second Ohio State player to win the award. Linebacker James Laurinaitis also won the Lott IMPACT Trophy in 2008.

Now he’s the third Ohio State star to be crowned as the best defensive back in college football. Caleb Downs, Jim Thorpe Award winner.