Caleb Downs Commits to Alabama

Caleb Downs can make a case for being the best player in the country heading into his senior season, and he announced today he'd be playing for Alabama in college.

Caleb Downs can make a case for being the best player in the country heading into his senior season at Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Georgia. Downs is one of the most coveted prospects in the 2023 class and has made his long-awaited decision after a recruitment process that saw major programs pursue his commitment.

As we discussed Wednesday morning, this has been one of the more locked-up recruitments in recent memory. As of Wednesday morning, sources from all three presumed finalists, Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Georgia, claimed they were expecting a phone call with the final verdict. It was the definition of down-to-the-wire recruitment.

Wednesday, Downs announced he'd be playing his college football at the University of Alabama.

Coming from a football family that saw his father, Gary, play running back at North Carolina State in the 90s before being selected by the New York Giants in the third round of the 1994 NFL Draft. The lineage does not stop with Gary as Caleb's brother Josh Downs is forging his path as one of the top wide-outs in the country at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A five-star per the 247Sports Composite, Downs is the No. 1 safety in the country and the top player in the state of Georgia. It's a major blow to the 2023 Georgia class, as a pairing of fellow five-star safety Joenel Aguero and Caleb Downs would have been rather unprecedented at the position in terms of recruiting. Though adding Aguero back on July 23rd to the class makes this loss a bit more manageable for Georgia and its hopes of keeping up with the Top-3 composite ranking in recruiting Smart and staff have maintained over the last six years. 

Many would've told you not long ago that Ohio State was the favorite to land the elite defensive back. Yet, Alabama and Georgia started closing ground on the Buckeyes with their June official visits, with Alabama ultimately winning out in the end.

Georgia Football 2023 Commits

• Pearce Spurlin, TE
• Raymond Cottrell, WR
• Bo Hughley, OL
• Lawson Luckie, TE
• Gabriel Harris, OLB
• Joshua Miller, OL
• CJ Allen, LB
• AJ Harris, DB
• Justyn Rhett, DB
• Peyton Woodring, PK
• Daniel Harris, DB
• Raylen Wilson, LB
• Troy Bowles, LB
• Jamaal Jarrett, DL
• Joenel Aguero, DB

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