OXNARD, Calif. — Gary Downs played six seasons as a running back in the NFL. He can identify a talented football player. But at 6 years old?That’s the age his son, Dallas Cowboys rookie safety Caleb Downs, was when his father knew he was a special player. The first-grader scored 46 touchdowns in a 10-game season. In the championship game, he finished with 313 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on offense and 15 tackles on defense.“We would always say, ‘When you get older, it’s going to get harder,’” Gary recalled. “But as he got older, he just kept getting better and better. He plays the best against the best people. … He’s just different. He just rises to the occasion, his work ethic, his IQ.“When he puts his mind to something, he does it. That’s a gift. That’s a talent. If he says one day I want to be like Jerry Jones and own a team, don’t bet against him.”Cowboys ease back into practices with solid looks on offenseGary remembers Caleb coming home from elementary school and watching film. He would also study YouTube videos of the NFL’s greatest safeties, like Ed Reed, Brian Dawkins, Troy Polamalu and Ronnie Lott.“He’s a learner,” Gary said. “He studies the Hall of Famers because that’s where he wants to be at.”Gary witnessed the same dedication when it came to Caleb’s schoolwork, from a young age and through college. While at Ohio State, Caleb studied business with an emphasis on real estate.“We set up meetings with real estate (companies) and developers,” Gary said. “And after all those meetings, they would say, ‘I’ve never been around a young person that could go and sit and study or watch for five or six hours.’ He literally could do that, because he wanted to, and he would never get tired. They said, ‘You’re probably tired. You’re probably bored?’“Nope. If there was a developer right now that said, ‘Caleb, I want to show you some development in Frisco (Texas),’ he would be like, ‘Let’s go.’ And then after an hour or two, they would be like, ‘You’re probably tired.’ No. He’s locked in because he’s interested. His ability to focus (is exceptional).”That type of praise has followed Downs throughout his football career. Nick Saban, arguably the greatest coach in college football history, was only with him for one season, but he considers Downs to be one of the best people and players he has coached during his 51-year career.The Cowboys are starting to see why.Monday marks the first time Dallas will be in full pads for a training camp practice. Downs will be easily noticed. During their work in organized team activities, minicamp and the first week of training camp, Downs has been moved all over the defense. He’s the chess piece that new defensive coordinator Christian Parker has been utilizing to help as a nickel cornerback but also a traditional safety. One play he could be asked to make a run stop like a linebacker and the next he’s defending a top wide receiver or tight end in the passing game.“They shouldn’t call it nickel, they ought to call it Downs,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Saturday on NFL Network. “Really. He was built for that.”Parker has been spending extra time with Downs after practice. It’s clear the Cowboys knew when they traded up to draft him 11th overall in April that they could put a lot on his plate. So much so that Downs is one of four defenders who will be getting work during camp wearing the green dot, the helmet radio that receives the play calls from Parker. That’s a role usually reserved for veteran players.“He’s a young guy that I respect,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said. “He’s a reason that this is going to be one of our best rookie classes. And he’s just going to continue to grow. He takes a lot of pride in being the first pick of the Cowboys and takes a lot of pride in having to step into a defense that everybody was talking about that has to get better.”The Cowboys are coming off a season where they had what many consider to be the worst defense in franchise history. Downs isn’t going to turn it all around alone, but he doesn’t shy away from the expectations.“To be dominant,” Downs said of his expectations for the defense. “That’s what I’ve thought about with every defense I’ve been on. And we have the talent to do it, to dominate every offense that we go against.”The importance of the nickel cornerback has increased in recent years. Jones acknowledged as much going into this year’s draft, sharing that the Cowboys would not have allowed veteran cornerback Jourdan Lewis to leave in free agency had they known how essential that role would become.Downs is the ideal fit in a league where so many star wide receivers are moved around the formation, including into the slot. Downs has the ability to stay with them at any position.“That’s what makes these offenses great, when you can move these (top wide receivers) in and out,” Prescott said. “And so if you don’t have a guy that can travel with them, if you don’t have a guy that can match up and play that, you’re putting yourself in a bind. And (Downs) not only has to travel and get inside (when) that guy goes inside, but he also has to stop the run. And so to have a guy that can do that, to be versatile, but more importantly, physical, that’s what makes great defenses great.“You need a guy in there that can slow down that star receiver when he moves inside, but yet fill the B-gap, the C-gap or wherever he needs to and hold the integrity of the defense.”Could Dallas Cowboys take the 2025 Seattle Seahawks path?Derrik KlassenThe Cowboys have a pair of outstanding wide receivers they can move around in CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Downs’ reps against them should help him greatly during the season.Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer has praised Downs for his ability to not make the same mistake twice. After being beaten on a route by Lamb in the spring, Schottenheimer used it as a teaching moment in front of the entire team. The route was run again recently in training camp, and Downs was in position to take Lamb away.“His ability to adjust is very mature,” Lamb said. “He understands where his help is. In minicamp, that was his first time in that defense. He wasn’t really understanding what was going on. But now he plays to his help, he plays to his strength and it shows. The guy’s phenomenal. He’s a great football player. I can’t wait to see what he does on Sundays.”Nothing about Downs seems like a rookie. He carries himself like a veteran on and off the field, never appearing uncomfortable.When he arrived at the Cowboys’ headquarters, The Star, the day after he was drafted, a fan told him he hopes he’s the next Ed Reed.“I’m just gonna be me,” Downs calmly responded. “I’m just gonna be Caleb Downs.”When asked last week about how high his expectations are for himself, Downs simply said: “That’s for me to know and y’all to find out.”The jump from high school to college was not an issue. Downs was the best freshman in college football while at Alabama. He then transferred to Ohio State and picked right up where he left off as one of the nation’s top defensive backs, earning All-American honors both seasons and winning a national championship in 2024. Many experts believe he was the best all-around player in this year’s draft. The jump from college to pro looks like it might be just as smooth.“He’s as sharp of a young guy as I’ve ever seen,” Prescott said. “It starts with his mentality and his approach to the game. It’s who he is. Obviously you can see it on the football field. You see it any moment that football is being talked about, whether it’s in the meetings or whether it’s a walk-through or it’s at practice. But just to spend time around the guy outside of football, whether it’s playing golf or just hanging out, shooting a commercial with him, that’s who he is. And that is contagious.”