Cooper Flagg proved every expectation placed on him in year one. Jerry Jones is betting Caleb Downs does the same thing for the Dallas Cowboys defense. The college resumes suggest he is right.
The Dallas Cowboys traded up from No. 12 to No. 11 during the NFL Draft Thursday night, sending two fifth-round picks to the Miami Dolphins to land Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. After the pick, Jerry Jones walked to the podium and compared the moment to the Dallas Mavericks winning the 2025 NBA Draft lottery.
Jones put it plainly after the pick. "I liken those odds to when the Mavericks got that forward Cooper Flagg," he said. "So I tried to beat them with the odds with this pick of Downs at the spot that it was. I still think they got us by a percentage of a point, but we still beat some odds there to have him."
The Mavericks won the No. 1 pick with a 1.8% chance. The Cowboys moved up one spot and gave up two late picks to make sure the math worked in their favor. Both franchises found a way to get their player.
The similarities between Downs and Flagg go well beyond draft night urgency. Both were five-star prospects who became the consensus best player at their position in college. Both earned national recognition in their first season of college play and kept building from there.
Flagg enrolled at Duke as the top-ranked recruit in the 2024 class, averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, and won every major national player of the year award available in a single freshman season.
He joined Kevin Durant, Zion Williamson, and Anthony Davis as the only freshmen in history to win the AP Player of the Year. The Mavericks took him No. 1 overall in the 2025 draft. In his rookie season, he averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while putting together one of the strongest rookie seasons the league has seen in years.
Oh, and he just won Rookie of the Year.
Downs started all 14 games at Alabama as a true freshman under Nick Saban, racking up 107 tackles and two interceptions while earning SEC Freshman of the Year. After Saban's retirement, he transferred to Ohio State, helped the Buckeyes win a national title in 2024, and earned consensus All-American honors in both seasons.
He won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2025 as the nation's top defensive back. Every coach and evaluator who watched him used the same word to describe what he adds: a multiplier.
Two generational prospects. One city. Flagg spent his rookie season proving every expectation placed on him was justified. Jones is betting Downs does the same thing for the Cowboys' defense.