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2023 Ohio State Safety Target Caleb Downs Sets Commitment Date

The nation's top-ranked safety was on campus for his official visit during the last weekend in June.

Andrew Lind

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Hoschton (Ga.) Mill Creek five-star safety Caleb Downs announced on Thursday he will make his college decision on July 27 from the likes of Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

The 6-foot-0 and 185-pound Downs, who is considered the top-ranked safety and No. 12 prospect overall in the class of 2023, has been on campus multiple times since the Buckeyes extended a scholarship offer in February 2021.

That includes an unofficial visit during the first weekend in April and his official visit on June 24-26, which gave him a chance to spend time with head coach Ryan Day, defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, secondary/cornerbacks coach Tim Walton and safeties coach Perry Eliano.

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Ohio State already holds a pair of commitments at safety from West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West four-star Malik Hartford and Titusville (Fla.) Cocoa four-star Cedrick Hawkins. However, the hope has been to add three players at the position this cycle.

Downs is No. 1 on the list of remaining options, though he’s seemingly trending toward the Crimson Tide at this time. Another top target in Lynn (Mass.) St. John’s Prep four-star Joenel Aguero will likely come off the board this weekend, as well, as most expect him to commit to Georgia on Saturday.

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The same goes for Hillside (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep four-star Jayden Bonsu, who has received numerous crystal ball precautions to Miami. He was supposed to announce his college decision on Wednesday, but recently postponed that decision.

Will that give the Buckeyes another chance to land his pledge, or will the staff need to start dishing out more offers in the coming weeks in hopes of filling that spot? Assuming they miss out on Downs, that is.

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Andrew Lind
ANDREW LIND

Andrew Lind is an Ohio State beat writer and photographer at BuckeyesNow, founder of The Ohio State Uniform Database and the NCAA and NFL writer at SportsLogos.net.

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