If Caleb Downs has a chip on his shoulder heading into his rookie season for the nine teams that passed on him in the draft, he gets his first opportunity as early as Week 1. The NFL announced on Monday that the Dallas Cowboys will travel to face the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.
The Cowboys are set to play four of the nine teams that selected players instead of Downs, but the Giants are the only team to pass on Downs twice at pick No. 5 and No. 10. New York had holes up and down their
roster, so they could have gone offense or defense with either of their first-round draft picks.
The biggest curveball of the night was Arvell Reese falling to New York at No. 5. A few draft analysts before the draft kicked off alluded to that scenario playing out in the first round, and said don’t be surprised if New York takes Reese despite having a plethora of pass rushers. If Reese goes in the Top 4, do they end up taking Downs with one of their two picks? The chances certainly increase.
The night before the draft, Josh Downs, Caleb’s brother and wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, predicted that Downs would be going to the Giants. It also sounded like Downs’ agent Ryan Tollner had on good authority before the draft that New York would be interested in moving up for Downs from No. 10 if he started to fall. Even Malik Nabers wanted Downs to join him in New York, and it looked like he was sick when Dallas traded up for him at No. 11. Do yourself a favor and go to YouTube to watch how Giants’ fans react to taking Francis Mauigoa at ten and then watching the Cowboys take Downs at 11. It’s worth your time.
At No. 10, the Giants opted to go with Mauigoa to solidify their offensive line. New York’s history with drafting first-round offensive linemen is putrid outside of Andrew Thomas, so fans hope he will be different than the rest, but he and Downs will always be picks that are tied together. It doesn’t help that during his medical recheck in Indianapolis, it was found “he’s going to need a cleanup procedure on his back at some point.”
New York’s loss ended up being the Cowboys’ gain, as everyone from the front office to the coaching staff was probably crossing their fingers in the war room to land their guy in Downs. As the Giants’ revamped offense looks to take on the Cowboys’ revamped defense, Downs will be at the center of it on the NFL’s brightest stage—something that likely played into the league making this game the one that kicks off Sunday Night Football.
