Major Alabama Football Player Enters Transfer Portal After Nick Saban's Retirement

Caleb Downs was arguably the best freshman football player in the country in 2023.

By Brian Jones

One of the top college football players in the country might be playing for a new team in 2024. According to multiple reports, Alabama safety Caleb Downs is heading to the NCAA transfer portal. This comes a week after former Alabama coach Nick Saban announced his retirement. Kalen DeBoer, who was the head coach for the Washington Huskies the last two seasons, was named Alabama's new head coach over the weekend. 

Downs was a big reason the Alabama Crimson Tide football team won the SEC Championship and reached the College Football Playoff this past season. He finished the year with 107 tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Downs also returned a punt for an 85-year touchdown. According to On3, Downs is the first Alabama freshman to lead his team in tackles program history dating back to at least 1970. 

Due to his play on the football field, Downs was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team, the All-SEC First Team and SEC Freshman of the Year. The Georgia native also received second-team All-America honors for all players from the Associated Press. 

"I think what impresses me most about Caleb Downs is his maturity," Saban said in December. "He's a very instinctive football player, but this guy, there's no arrogance about him, being one of the best players in the country at his position. He's very focused, he's very coachable. He wants to know everything that you can ever tell him about how he can play his position better. He takes coaching well when you talk to him about what he did or didn't do."  

With Downs being a top player, many schools will be pursuing him. 247Sports believes the Georgia Bulldogs are the favorites to land Downs since he's from Georgia and Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart recruited him. "He doesn't look like a freshman at all. He looks like a guy that's been playing for three years," Smart said on Nov. 30, per 247Sports. "He's instinctive. He's fast. He's fearless. He's everything that he was in high school. I've seen him play about 100 7-on-7 games at our stadium and at our facility when his high school team came over all the time, and he's everything that we thought he was. He's just a football player that is instinctive, great tackler. Just what you draw up when you want a defensive back."

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