5-star Caleb Downs is critical for No. 1 spot in 2023 college football recruiting class

When it comes to the No. 1 spot in the 2023 college football recruiting class, five-star safety Caleb Downs’ commitment could play a key role. 

Earlier, we broke down the race for the No. 1 spot in the 2023 college football recruiting rankings and according to the 247 sports team rankings, it’s going to be tight.

Ohio State is the current leader in overall points and the Buckeyes have 19 commitments. Notre Dame football is right behind the Buckeyes but could be overtaking them soon with the upcoming commitment of Jaiden Ausberry, who is expected to choose the Fighting Irish.

The Irish already have 20 commitments though and unless they are going to add more recruits than most of their counterparts, they are running out of points to add to their total.

It could play out in a similar fashion to the last college football recruiting cycle. Notre Dame football was No. 1 for part of the year before Texas A&M took over. The Irish finished seventh and one reason was that Georgia, A&M, and Alabama all had at least 28 pledges. The Irish had 22.

Ohio State was third in average recruiting ranking and actually, even Bama ranked higher than A&M in that regard, even though the Aggies had the most overall points.

That’s why Alabama, even though it has just 13 commitments now, is still very much in the mix for the No. 1 spot in the 2023 college football recruiting team rankings right along with Georgia.

That’s why the commitment of Caleb Downs could be key to watch. Downs is the No. 1 prospect in the state of Georgia and the No. 1 safety prospect in 2023 too as well as No. 12 overall.

Why Caleb Downs commitment will be so important

Downs is announcing his commitment on July 27th and he’s one of the top prospects left on the board.

Alabama has gotten the only crystal ball projections at this point and is the current leader according to the On3 prediciton machine which gives the Tide a 45-percent chance of winning his commitment. Georgia is at 28 percent and Ohio State is at 23 percent.

A commitment for the Tide along with a pledge from Olaus Alinen, a four-star offensive lineman trending to Alabama, would move Bama up to fourth overall in the 2023 team rankings — with just 13 commitments and lots of high-ranking targets left on the board.

The recruiting win would be equally important for Ohio State or Georgia, especially the Buckeyes, but Alabama is a very real threat to land Downs and the No. 1 spot in the entire class by the time signing day rolls around.