Giving up two fifth-round picks was greater than price it to land a expertise like Downs. Usually, the Cowboys would not worth a security this excessive on the board however, as the Cowboys imagine and Christian Parker will possible show, Downs is not merely a security. The former Ohio State defensive again can play three positions on-demand, from nickel nook to free security to robust security to linebacker, relying on the play name. His soccer acumen is excessive sufficient to be a proverbial inexperienced dot for your complete secondary, seeing as he isn’t simply deceived pre- or post-snap — processing all of it at mild velocity and having the athletic traits to react immediately to what he is seeing in actual time.
Thriving in zone protection and as a press man nook because of his motor, physicality and thirst for getting his arms soiled, Downs isn’t just a chess piece … he is THE chess piece. A fluid ballhawk that’s sticky in protection but additionally glorious in run protection, as effectively as blitz packages when he is despatched to hunt the opposing quarterback. One of the one knocks to Downs’ sport is that he’ll, at instances, promote out for the massive hit or the spotlight interception; however scared cash does not become profitable at this degree. Downs has instincts you may’t educate and is already refined in so many areas that may be taught, and his ceiling is someplace in orbit as he heads into Dallas with Parker on the helm.
