Caleb Downs said he was going to make a decision about whether he would stay with Alabama or enter the transfer portal. The decision has been made, and unfortunately for Alabama fans, that decision was to enter the transfer portal.
Downs was a five-star recruit and the number-one safety in the class of 2023. He chose the Crimson Tide over schools like Georgia, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. Downs also had offers from schools like Clemson, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Penn State.
During his true freshman season with the Tide, Downs had 107 tackles, five pass deflections, 3.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. His accolades are impressive: second-team All-America recognition from the Associated Press and The Sporting News, selection as the SEC Freshman of the Year, first-team All-SEC, and Freshman All-SEC by conference coaches. It is safe to say that he will be a huge loss for Alabama.
The first two obvious spots for Downs would be Georgia and Ohio State. Downs is from Hoschton, Ga. Hoschton is around 45 minutes away from Athens. So that is one reason why Georgia makes sense for Downs. And for Ohio State, Downs was heavily recruited by the Buckeyes down the stretch of his high school recruitment, and it has only been a year since that. So those relationships are still there.