BREAKING: Dallas Cowboys Select Caleb Downs 11th Overall | Dallas Lands A GENERATIONAL Safety

0:00It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up everybody? This is Ross Jackson, one of the hosts of the Lockdown Podcast Network, and if you haven't heard yet, we started a club and we would love for you to join. It's called the Everydayer Club, and one of the things that you get as a member is an ad-free version of the podcast that you're listening to right now. It works with whatever podcast app you already used, same episodes every day, just no ad. There's also a member's only group chat for fans of your team, plus a lot more. You can check it out by tapping the Everydayer Club link in the show notes. The pick is in. With the 11th pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Dallas Cowboys, to let Caleb down safety from Ohio State, Lockdown NFL Draft, sponsored by Kalshi Trade, Draft Pics, and live market

1:01with no house down. The app used code Lockdown, get 10 bucks when you trade 10, Kalshi Trade on anything. I'm Kevin Ostrecker joined by Land of a Cool from Lockdown Cowboys, and the Cowboys make a little trade up to number 11 from number 12 to secure Caleb Downs. And Land, what's the excitement level in Dallas right now over this bit? It's enormous. I mean, I think we would have been absolutely thrilled to even trade up to go get Caleb Downs. I think a lot of people were prescribing it. The Cowboys have obviously a huge need on defense, and there's a couple different targets, but they had specifically targeted the five or six sort of blue chip players at the top of this draft. For them to get one of those players at 11 with just a small trade up, I think they ended up giving just two fifths up to go get them. It was worth it, and it's a real tone setter for Christian Parker in this new defense. Now how does he fit into what Dallas wants to do on defense? Obviously, looking to improve in that area, there are a lot of ways that the Cowboys could have gone with this pick. Why Caleb Downs and where is his fit?

2:03Yeah, I mean, that's going to be the interesting question, because I do think it's a couple different areas. I mean, obviously, naturally, he can play safety for you, and Milly Cookers only got one year left on his deal, but I honestly think the interesting thing is, could he be your nickel back? Christian Parker puts a real premium on that position specifically. It has a lot of responsibilities in this defense, and he is a type of player that you feel comfortable heaping a ton of responsibility on top of. So that would be a real natural fit, but I think it's clear that he's going to be playing opposite of Jalen Thompson. They're going to move both of those guys around a lot in a very multiple defense. So basically, he's going to play wherever the Cowboys need him, and he's going to play pretty well. You know, the Cowboys have ammunition in this draft. They're going to be picking again in the first round, and obviously a couple more days to round out their roster. How does the Downs pick impact what the Cowboys could do over the remaining couple of days as the draft rolls on? Yeah, I mean, I think at this point, since Sunny Styles became out of your reach, you're probably targeting an edge rusher with your second pick at 20, and then maybe waiting

3:09on linebacker. You could go the other way, but it just feels like that might be a better fit for where the skill sets are and where you're picking a little bit later. But either way, the Cowboys still clearly need to get at least another starting linebacker, which I think either they can get in the third round or they can maybe try to trade that pick for some of veteran because I know there's some available, and they definitely need some depth at their past rush position as well. For more on the Cowboys, subscribe to Lockdown Cowboys wherever you get your podcast.