
10/10 MATCH: Are the Commanders Ready to Choose Caleb Downs as Their Safety Game-Changer in 2026?
About this episode
Washington Commanders 2026 NFL Draft prospects get a sharp spotlight as the safety position is dissected, with Caleb Downs named a "10 out of 10" fit and the top candidate on the big board. From Dylan Thieneman’s athletic profile at Oregon to Kamari Ramsey’s value out of USC, the discussion weighs immediate needs against long-term depth as the secondary prepares for a potential scheme overhaul under defensive coordinator Daronte Jones. Commanders fans get insights on split field processors, big nickel hybrids, and the traits essential for future NFL impact.
Which safety archetype best fits Washington’s plan, and could a top safety come off the board at pick 7 or 71? Dive into prospects like Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Bud Clark, Jalon Kilgore, and Robert Spears-Jennings, plus analysis of current roster fits like Nick Cross and Jeremy Reaves.
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Locked On Commanders - Daily Podcast On The Washington Commanders — 10/10 MATCH: Are the Commanders Ready to Choose Caleb Downs as Their Safety Game-Changer in 2026?. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
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Call 800-3334 Kia for details. Always drive safely and obey all traffic laws. Comparisons based on second row legroom and cargo space behind second row seats in the subcompact SUV class, according to Kia segmentation as of October 2025. Caleb Dows is a 10 out of 10, but he isn't the only safety worth considering if you're the Washington commanders. You are locked on commanders, your daily podcasts on the Washington commanders. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Welcome inside today's episode of Locked On Commanders. I'm your host, your guy on the ground, David Harrison. And on today's episode, it is time for the safety, big board, our top 10, our superlatives, our reports and our breakdowns. And of course, we're going to talk about the three guys that we left off the list as well, only eight guys on this big board. So not even a top 10 here for the Washington mayor's safety group from the way that I see him here.
And let's dive right into it, starting, of course, with our top 10 top eights board. I don't know why I keep calling it a top 10, even though I know there's only eight 2026 Washington mayor's safety, big board number one on the list Caleb Downs out of Ohio State Dylan Thinamann out of Oregon is number two, Emmanuel McNeil Warren is number three at Toledo, Keonte Scott out of Miami, Florida. And if you think he's a corner, I got you, we're going to talk about the here in just a minute. Number five, Kamari Ramsey out of USC, number six, Bud Clark out of TCU, number seven, Jalen Kilgore out of South Carolina, number eight, Robert Spears Jennings out of Oklahoma. But then we break it down, there's a little bit further. So obviously that's the order, you know, we're talking best player available. This is the order we're talking about. This is the order. These guys are projected and I put that in air quotes as we talk about this to be taken off of the draft boards. But of course, there's more than one way to look at the NFL draft. And right now we're going to go to kind of those holistic fits. The top three guys from that top eight of the total class that really just kind of
holistic had that holistic fit for the Washington mayor. They fit everything that they need, whether it's a short term need in 2026, a long term need looking at 2027 into the future. Cause right now only Nick Cross and Jeremy Rees are under contract in the safety group for 2027. So you're talking about the future of the team, you're talking about what these players bring to the field, to the locker room, Caleb Downs is the number one holistic fit for the Washington commanders out of Ohio State. So if you look at it and you're thinking what we want, the guy that fits everything we need the most, but we also need the guy that also has the best value Caleb Downs is one and he's one on these lists. So that makes him kind of a perfect match for this team. If they're prioritizing safety, which I know safety, not a premium position, considered in the NFL draft, but certainly a position that Adam Peters could be looking at. We talked about this on the last episode, the last short episode of locks on commanders that I dropped on Friday morning that Adam Peter, some of his comments from his pre draft press conference kind of indicate to me that he might be kind of setting the stage for him to pull the trigger on a non premium position
in the first round, potentially even in the top 10. So if you missed that conversation as the episode right before this one, go check that out. Number two, holistic fit, Dylan Theeneman out of Oregon and really no mistake there that he's also the number two guy on this board. Just in general, as it is, Emmanuel McNeil Warren, number three overall guy at a Toledo. So if you're talking about potential blue chip guys, guys that can come and make an immediate impact and guys that just fit everything that Washington commanders are looking for, those top three guys are those three names. And then when you talk about just traits, now let's just get back to, let's just get down to what the, what the traits are. We're not talking about the holistic picture. We're just talking about pure athletic evaluation. Keonte Scott, Miami, Florida, DB. He is someone who a lot of people have listed as corner. I'm listed as safety here for one reason is I kind of agree with the athletics, Dave Brugler, because actually in the beast, Keonte Scott is listed as safety as well. So I kind of agree with that line of thinking where Keonte, yes, he can play in the slot. Yes, he does play in the slot, which is a slot corner back role, right? So obviously corner back, but he really plays that
big nickel hybrid linebacker, DB type of role. And that puts him more in the safety realm. At least what we're going to talk about here, we're going to talk about these fits. We're going to talk about Geron, say Jones, and the projected scheme that I have for him. And we'll get into that conversation a little bit more here to try to hopefully flesh that out a little bit. But our, our, our, our second top traits fit is Caleb Downs, Ohio State. So again, it's all coming up. Caleb Downs, not really surprisingly, Kamari Ramsey at a USC is our third best traits only comparison. When we look at what the watchmakers are looking for traits wise, he fits the bill, the third most out of the eight here. And then you talk about the needs fits. We'll talk about the needs are here in a minute, but Dylan Theanman out of Oregon is he fits the most immediate need. Kamari Ramsey, second and Keonte Scott third on that list, the best value on this list that you're probably going to get is Kamari Ramsey. First round processing ability from a mental standpoint on day two is what you're looking at from USC's Kamari Ramsey. The most likely to be under drafted. I think it's going to be Keonte Scott out of Miami. I think injuries and age going to impact him just a little bit.
The most likely to be overdrafted. I think it's Jalen Kilgore at a South Carolina. Has a potential be drafted ahead of some guys that overall he's probably drafted behind. That's okay. I mean, he can make them, he can try to prove them right, right? But that's probably the most likely there. So when we talk about Dorontay Jones's defense, right? Again, we're talking about a hybrid type of scheme. We know he comes from the Blunt Brian Flores School of Thought. We also know he comes from the Mike Zimmer, Lou Anna Rumo. You know, there's no other influences in his career as well. So what are you looking for in safety? You really have three different types of archetypes, right? Prototypes, whatever you want to call them. And that's kind of how we get to the big nickel heavy slot being more of a safety role here in this, in this whole thing. Because you want a guy that can do all three of these, be a split field processor. So we talk about coverage safeties all the time. But really, it's not just coverage. It's not just a guy that can cover it's a split field process. Someone who has the processing speed and the ability to look at match quarters responsibilities, bracket vertical routes, and really just do a lot of things to make sure that when they go blitz heavy, that they have
that security back there. It's not just simply can you cover, it's can you cover in a way that really makes you a dynamic presence back there. He had that deep ball range. You got to be able to anticipate route combinations, which takes a lot of intelligence again, processing what you see in front of you, sideline to sideline tracking and movement ability. And then of course, you need ball skills to produce turnovers for your defense, takeaways to your defense. And then you're also looking at a down safety type of role, strong safety type of archetype, kind of that Harrison Smith from Minnesota Vikings days for Grande Jones. And this is really kind of the key to your disguise looks into me. Nick Cross kind of fits that most we'll talk about the current fits here in just a second, but playing that robber and cover one, playing those hook curl zones, a little bit underneath coverage, things like that. And also have the ability to quickly trigger down into the run support role, have that elite run fit defense timing violence and the ability to blitz as well. And you have that big nickel heavy slot, which is that third type of safety. It's a Dax Hill Josh Mattel, Josh Mattel, someone we talked about before for the Minnesota Vikings, Brian Flores, Dorontate Jones, as the secondary coach really, really helped elevate his
game. It's in it's just kind of a critical role out there, basically a hybrid linebacker slot corner, like we've been talking about with Keyonte Scott. He can do that slot corner thing, but he can also play as a kind of hybrid type of linebacker, set the run. If need be blitz off the corner, all those things man coverage is the thing that he can do, play strength to shed blocks, all of those tendencies. Alright, so that's what you're looking for in some of these guys. So what are you not looking for? You're not looking for guys that don't have the processing speed. You're not looking for guys that don't really have the ability to blitz and to be an effective tackler in the box. And you also don't look for a guy that can only play in the box and has zero coverage abilities. So again, those are some of your discriminators that we're looking at that let us to really only eight names in this safety class this year. And when you look at the current room, knit cross, like I said, plays that downfield safety role. But he also has the ability to be a split field processor. He also also has the ability to be that center of field, which I think is really, really big. Will Harris has that box safety big nickel type of energy to him. So you've got that fill that role there. And then Juan Martin is kind of the flip right. He's at the big nickel.
First, have you slot presence a little bit after that. So I think that Juan moving into that big nickel role, I've kind of struggled with, do I move him into the cornerback group in the depth chart to I keep him with safety is really as I dove into what I think the safety position really means for Doronte Jones. Juan, yes, he moves into the box. Yes, he moves more into that nickel role. But he does it as a big nickel, not just as a cover guy. So I think whether we keep him there, Jeremy Reeves, more of a down safety in the box. Obviously, he's at the special team's ability, Percy Butler has some of that coverage ability, Tyler Owens has that has that down safety abilities while they did try to use him in some coverage roles last year. I don't think it went really, really well, but he's still young. So it's time to develop. So let's see what it looks like. This year and then Rob McDaniel, an undrafted free agent from last year. I think he's got a developmental role for this team, big frame, not a lot proven, but I think he's kind of a good big nickel type of project for the depth the other. So when you look at the needs, current year, 2026, 26 only, you need that split field processor in the back field to go along with
Nick Cross. Nick can do a little bit of both, but you'd like a guy that can really just kind of nail that role. You always also need a developmental big nickel. You've got some big nickels on the roster right now, but again, only Jeremy Reeves, only Nick Cross under contract in 2027, you need to get that depth there. When you're looking towards the future, that's where those contracts come in split field processor. Look, if it's a need now, it's a need later, right? Obviously, big nickel, big slot, down safety depth, also needed. So when you measure all those needs, needs of today, needs of tomorrow, split field processor takes the number one spot for the biggest need. Your big nickel and heavy slot takes the second developmental down box safety becomes your third. And that is how we end up getting all those things I just talked about with you. The fits, the needs, the holistic fits, all that kind of stuff. Now, let's start to break down the candidates starting with our number one guy Caleb Downs, out of Ohio State coming up next on today's episode of Lockdown Commanders part of the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day. And today's episode of Lockdown Commanders is brought to you in part by Ruzziyet. The NFL draft is here. Preparation is about to meet
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took too long. Basically a staring contest where everyone loses. It's crazy what people say during an awkward silence. Now transactions are done before the silence takes hold. That means I can focus on the task at hand and make an extra sale at two. Sometimes I do miss the bonding time. Sometimes. AT&T business wireless connecting changes everything. Thank you for making locked on commanders your first listen of the day every day to the every day or so as we come through for every single episode. Thank you for coming through for yet another one here today. If you haven't already, check out the everyday club locked on commanders dot supercast dot com. To check that out today, you add free episodes, newsletters, text message, access with me. Just a lot of stuff that goes beyond the normal episodes to give you even more access to everything that I know and that I think I know about the Washington commanders. Again, locked on commanders dot supercast dot com to check that out today. Kale Downs is our number one safety on the Washington commanders. NFL draft big board. Not a surprise. I'm sure 511 206 pounds first round grade expected to be
the first safety off the board and really I have not heard anybody say that anybody else might be the first safety off the board. He's a 10 out of 10 scheme match. You can play that down safety role. He can play that big nickel, but he also has that split field versatility. And if you remember earlier in the off season, I kind of struggled with this because when I tell you he's a down safety big nickel, I'm basically telling you he's what Nick Cross is. And I'm like, we already have Nick Cross. I understand to his second contract, but he's only 24 years old. I need to turn 25 this year. So he's a little bit older, obviously, than Kale Downs is, but not so much older that you're like, well, you got to find your replacement for him for the future. But then got to see him in person. Got to see him as Ohio State pro day. Got to see him in person during the season as well. Went and saw Ohio State beat Rutgers. I was also able to see him there as well, but saw him move backwards with fluidity, hip turn, all that stuff, footwork. Got to see him jump on that rumored, you know, problematic knee that I told you then was not so problematic from where I sat, did a lot of jumping, did a lot of walking. It was doing just fine afterwards too. Wasn't seeing trainers, wasn't wearing any ice or anything like that. So I just think that he's
an ultimate chest piece, man. He's got he does a lot of things really, really well. I think that you're going to see that he has the ability to play that sports field duty. If you need to and the great thing about it is if Nick Cross can do that from time to time, Caleb Downs can do that from time to time. I think the key with both of those guys is not asking to do any one thing all the time. So as a quarterback, you always got to wonder where is this guy going to go? Where is Nick Cross going to go? Where is Caleb Downs going to go? Is this guy dropping in the box? Is this guy dropping in the coverage? Are they both dropping in the coverage? Are they both coming in of the box like you can do all kinds of different things if you're drawn to Jones and since they both have very similar skill sets and kind of can do all those things together, you have the ability now you can play man coverage. Let's say you've got Nick Cross manned up on the inside receiver, you know, lined up on the right side of the offense and that receiver runs to the left now with a simple helmet tap or if you're smooth enough about it, you don't even need a signal. We just know what's what. Now that role could potentially be Caleb was originally going to blitz from deep in the backfield. Now because
of that motion, Caleb manned up against that inside receiver and Nick Cross blitzes from the defensive backfield and suddenly it looks like man coverage, but it's not or it looks like zone coverage. Sorry because man goes in motion, nobody moves, looks like zone coverage of the quarterback and then boom at the snap, not only do you have an extra rush or coming from the safety position, but you're also in man coverage and now your quarterback has to kind of react on the fly or hopefully make a bad read, make a bad decision and put the ball in harm's way. Caleb now brings that that reactive ability. He thrives close to a line of scrims. But like I said, he does have the underneath zone defender ability and great intangibles. You don't like necessarily like the the prototypical size, height, you know, weight and all that stuff isn't necessarily there. So that's where you really have to weigh in on the tape. And some of his tackling consistency, he did have an 11% career mistackle rates because he does have a tendency to whiff by some lower body tackles, shoestring tackles, you know, ankle tackles, all those types of things in the in the college game. Now Dylan Theaneman at Oregon comes in as our number two safety on this list, six foot 201 pounds,
first round grade. Again, nine out of 10 scheme match, so very, very close to being a darn near perfect match. He does have like his primary role is that split field processors. You talk about like a cover safety guy that can about go out there play that quarters, play that match zone, do all that kind of stuff, but he does have the ability to also play a little bit of reversal with big nickel down safety versatility. And so when you look at it, he's kind of like the flip of knit cross, right? Like knit cross starts off with that big nickel down safety type of ability, where Dylan Theaneman starts off with that split field processor that covered safety foundation and then can do the other stuff. So again, it's kind of like, well, this is the compliment, right? With Caleb Downs, it's like you got two, you got a set of twins that can both do a lot of things with this. You got one kid that can do this thing really well and then does this other stuff good as well. Good. So you got great and you got good. The other one with this guy does good. This guy does great with this guy does great. This guy does good. Flip it back and forth. I don't even think I'm making a sense anymore. Hopefully you understand what I'm saying. They compliment each other is what I'm trying to say. It's like puzzle pieces, right? Where where where knit cross
holes are Dylan Theaneman is better. Hold up now. 435 speed. Again, a lot of good things there. Alignment versatility, high level production across multiple roles at Oregon athletic profile is off the charts high football like you very quick to trigger just like Caleb Downs is sometimes he does come in a little too hot, which is can can compromise some angles when he's attacking the football doesn't have again, the physical dynamic or physical dimensions that you would love in a prototypical safety, but he has a lot there that you love. Number three, Emmanuel McNeil Warren added Toledo six foot three two hundred one pounds first round projection eight out of 10. So we got 10 out of 10 Caleb nine out of 10 Dylan Theaneman. Now we're going eight out of 10 and Emmanuel McNeil Warren. He is a down box safety and a robber. I don't know that he has as much coverage potential as like a Caleb Downs does. So you don't love that about him, but he does fill that kind of a role for you. Keonte Scott has more of that kind of box safety presence as well that we talked about. I want to talk about Kamari Ramsey here because he's kind of the
next we talked about Caleb being that kind of that perfect blend of both Dylan Theaneman being that more process oriented coverage type of safety who can do some other stuff. Kamari Ramsey really is the next analyst. He's fifth on the fifth overall on the top 10 lists in the order that these guys are going to get drafted, but he does have that split field processor kind of profile first. He's eight out of 10 scheme match third round projection out of USC. He's got a green doc communicator profile. He's he's kind of known to be a guy that just rallies the troops can lead, can do all those things. Remember, he's the best the best value that we talked about at the top of the episode because of some of those things you heard Dan Quinn talk about the fact that you need communicators at all levels. You need communicators at the second level, the third level, linebacker level DB level, but the green doc can really be at either of those levels. I've positive that it could be Nick Cross, but Kamari Ramsey has that profile as well as as well as a rookie, especially as a third round rookie. I don't know that that's necessarily something they would do for him, but you have that potential there. You have that possibility of him at least maybe
in the future becoming that if nobody solidifies their role in that position for the Washington Commanders elite processing high level IQ balance, hip fluidity is good versatile alignment experiences there on the assignment and his press man coverage when he does come up to the line of scrimmage is good there as well. What is concerning about Kamari and one of the reasons he's a third down projection zero interceptions in 2025 only two interceptions his entire NFL career or NFL career college career doesn't really time high pointing the ball very well. It doesn't really have the eye discipline. He's one of those guys you're looking at me like yeah, he's a DB for a reason instead of a receiver doesn't have long speed. So if he's going to be in coverage, he does have to kind of have that head start playing off again like a lot of these guys not really the prototypical size dimensions for a safety that you would want. And he missed the final three games of the 2025 season with a knee injury. So the medicals again, I don't have them. So I'm not holding it against them, but teams just you know are definitely going to be snuff sniffing out those medicals. So let's talk about the back half for a list as well. We've got three more guys to talk about or though we
can talk about and then we're going to talk about the draft productions for them where these guys could be available where they could come off the board in relation to where the Washington commanders are drafting next weekend coming up next on today's episode of Lockdown Commanders part of the Lockdown podcast network your team every day. Today's episode of Lockdown Commanders is also brought to you in part by rocket money. If you have ever opened your bank account and thought to yourself, where did all my money go? You're not alone. Keep in track of subscriptions. You're spending and your bills and get overwhelming fast and sometimes you can get out of control before you even realize you're losing control. That's where rocket money comes in helping you take control of your finances all in one place. It tracks all your subscriptions in one place so you can help and it can help you cancel the ones that you don't need with just a few taps. It automatically categorizes your spending. So you can see where your money is going and why and it can help you set budgets, get alerts and stay on top of your upcoming bills. It just makes everything feel more organized and it gives you a clearer picture of the finance day to day in your situation. Rocket money is a personal
finance app that helps finding cancel unwanted subscriptions monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Let rocket money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join up at rocket money dot com slash locked on as rocket money dot com slash locked before we had AT&T business wireless coverage, our delivery GPS wasn't the most reliable. Once our driver had to do a 14 point turn to get back on route, a 14 point turn and influence a even live stream the whole thing. Not good for business. Now with AT&T business wireless routes are updating on the fly and deliveries are on time and the influence of did get us 53 new followers though. AT&T business wireless connecting changes everything. Thank you once again for me locked on commanders your first listen of the day every day and thank you also for going through to W USA 9 dot com checking out my written work covering your Washington commanders over there for DCs CBS. Affiliate we're going to wrap up our list here and we're going to talk about
some draft positioning. Looking at guy like Bud Clark who's also got that field processor split field processor profile. Jalen Kilgore has more of a big nickel. He does have that split field ability coverage ability as well. And you also have Robert Spears are Jennings not junior who we've actually mock drafted a couple of times over the course of the off season here. But I do want to talk about Bud Clark here because he's something that we really haven't gotten a chance to talk about much of this off season third round grade on him six one hundred eighty eight pounds six out of 10 is what I give him on the scheme fit. So again, someone who can do one thing really really well. He's got that coverage ability really really well really really well. He's Rangy shows instincts ball skills are there. He doesn't he anticipates the route combinations jumps throws whenever he has the ability to do so tracking the ball as they're making a play at the catchpoint as also their 15 interceptions and 35 passes defense over the last four seasons in his collegiate career can play off well. He's willing to play downhill running and run into the alley and run
support when needed to. So he has the willingness to do a high experience captain multi year multi-year player also did well the senior bowl here in this last January does have some physicality to fetch the fish disease again. I tell you this is a guy who was kind of that split field processor only that's going to be indicative of he's not really a guy that you're like you love that he's willing to get into the alley willing to stick his face in the fan as I can how we used to put it but not really great at doing it right. He also was penalized seven times in 2025 mostly a man coverage does get grabby if he if he finds himself kind of beat so that's a major red flag if you're talking about cover zero cover one type of guy and you're talking about third round you want to try to be able to rely on this guy so again how much confidence they have they can teach him that he can you know absorb all the information the details that he needs to write off the bat is going to be a big part of the valuation there and as a third rounder like Jalen Kilgore is kind of the same way just kind of the opposite he's he's got some some some things there that you have to clean up on
so as a third round pick especially with the wash commanders you only have those six picks and this is your second one don't know that you're going to go there with them Robert Spears Jennings then in the sixth round makes a lot more sense because that's as much safer investment into a guy that has similar type of deficiencies the top 10 draft windows again we only got eight in this big board so it's not really a top 10 at the top eight but at number seven potentially looking at a guy like Caleb down to has his projected as a number eight pick right now according to popular mock drafts Dylan Thinamann a manual McNeil Warren and Kianta Scott all four of those guys so half of our top eight list probably going to come off the board between pick seven and 71 if you're the Washington commanders that 71 however you are potentially going to have Kamari Ramsey who I talked about is basically our best value overall from this draft list Bud Clark and Jalen Kilboard at 147 you're probably going to have Robert Spears Jennings available as well and then beyond there 187 209 223 none of these safeties are projected to be available for the Washington commanders the three guys that we left
off the board who might be a little bit surprising Genesis Smith out of Arizona is a fourth round projection more of a finesse defender with a reputation for poor tackling so that's why he was left outfield to Sean Singleton at an Nebraska fifth six round pick projection he does have size he does have physicality but he's a little bit a little bit rough moving in in space and doesn't really have the fluidity certainly doesn't have that cover zero look so again if the commanders are like we're good on going with you know with the boom like let's bring the boom from the level hey more power tea but we're looking holistically at this entire thing and then Xavier and Wakpa out of Iowa 7th round pick essentially UDFA like do bring him as a UDFA hey like more power to you his processing speed looks slow on tape doesn't have the great quickness in reacting like his clicking close is pretty delayed doesn't really show the anticipation but again if you're getting him as a UDFA and you want Dorontay to come in and teach him something like that then hey I have zero zero problems with taking a bet on a guy on the 90 man roster versus the the 53 which if you draft a guy you're
typically looking at them to potentially make the 53 next time on locked on commanders where do we go next let's go we go tight ends we go linebackers I think we're gonna linebackers let's go defense back to back we'll talk linebackers next time I appreciate you coming back for that episode for this episode and for any other episodes and in between them if you need me you can find me on x at de Harrison 82 on Instagram at de Harrison underscore 82 or you can just text me of becoming an all access member of the every day or club locked on commanders dot supercars to try that out today to the everydayers I want to thank you for coming through today just like I think you've come through for every episode and everybody else out there appreciate you coming through hanging out with us here for about 25 26 minutes here today and until we meet again if you're out and about please be safe be kind and I will see you right here next time for another episode of locked on commanders part of the locks on podcast network your team every day we know life is busy that's why saving money should be effortless with Atlantic Union
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