The NFL Scouting Combine can make or break any player’s draft stock. Year in and year out, some lesser-known prospects soar, while others fail to live up to the hype.
Notably, that’s not always because of their performance or interviews, but because of their measurements or medical concerns.
According to NFL Draft analyst Cory Kinnan of Daft on Draft, that may have been the case with Ohio State star safety Caleb Downs this year.
Apparently, he was flagged with two major medical concerns, and it might hurt his draft stock.
Caleb Downs’ medical flags cannot be overlooked
“I was told by an NFC scout that Ohio State all-class safety Caleb Downs had a couple of issues flagged during his medical check,” Kinnan reported. “…I was told that Downs was flagged with a partially torn meniscus this week. That is not a serious concern, but also being flagged with a potentially degenerative ACL is.”
Downs is one of the most talented and promising prospects in this class. Even in a position often deemed less impactful, he looked like a sure-fire top 10 selection, and maybe even top five.
That said, we’ve seen NFL teams avoid players with serious medical conditions in the past, at least in the first round. Guys like Shavon Revel or Will Johnson fell out of the first round mostly due to medical concerns.
That’s not to say that Downs won’t be a superstar or that teams shouldn’t do their due diligence on him, but it’s hard to believe anyone may take a risk on a safety with bad knees so early in the draft.