The came into the 2026 NFL Draft carrying one of the worst defenses in football. In 2025, their defense ranked third-worst in the league, giving up 377 yards per game and struggling to keep opponents out of the end zone. Team owner Jerry Jones needed a reliable leader for his secondary, and the draft handed him one. Dallas traded up one spot with the to take Ohio State Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs at No. 11 overall. He signed a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $28,952,412. Because of a $17.5 million signing bonus, his first-year payout sits at roughly $18.4 million. Dallas had tracked Downs for years. Southeast area scout Eric Ellingworth first heard about the safety from Downs father during a high school scouting trip. Ellingworth later watched him play as a true freshman at Alabama and wrote up Nick Vannett Jersey a glowing report on the spot. By the time Downs transferred to Ohio State, won a national championship and took home the 2025 Jim Thorpe Award, the Cowboys' front office already knew his exact value. He finished his college career with an epic stat line. Over his three seasons, he recorded 257 total tackles, 16 tackles for lo s and six interceptions. No other FBS defensive back over that same three-year window met those combined milestones. The 21-year-old also became just the sixth defensive back in history to earn unanimous All-American honors twice, joining Hall of Famers Deion Sanders and Ed Reed. Now, retired safety Tyrann Mathieu, who retired last July with a strong Hall of Fame case, thinks Downs has every caliber to win immediate hardware. On his podcast, In the Bayou with Tyrann Mathieu, the retired safety shared his prediction and expectation for the Cowboys' rookie. "I think Caleb has a great shot to have 100 tackles, and to get three sacks and three interceptions," Mathieu . He added, "That's sort of my expectation for him and you know Jerry's going to roll out the red carpet for him.... I think Caleb Downs... that's my pick to be Defensive Rookie of the Year." That is such a high bar to clear. Only one Cowboy has ever reached it and that is Micah Parsons, who won the award unanimously in 2021, setting a franchise rookie record with 84 tackles, 13 sacks and three forced fumbles. After a contract dispute, Dallas traded Parsons to the in August 2025. He then signed a four-year, $188 million extension, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at the time. Downs will not rush the pa ser like Parsons, but defensive coordinator Christian Parker plans to use his versatility acro s the secondary. Since the Cowboys need a serious boost in defense, Downs is expected to start immediately. More NFL news: Calvin Ridley Jersey