It's NFL Draft season, an exciting time for all teams as their fan bases hope their franchises will take the game's next great superstar. This is also the time of year when fans deal with information overload. Analysts will come out with reports that fans will have to sift through to see which ones are credible. Some information "leaks" to taint a top prospect, hoping it will cause them to fall down draft boards and become a steal for a team without a top pick. Other times, the information is valid, and the player appropriately moves down boards as teams become cautious of them. Star Ohio State safety Caleb Downs chose not to work out at the 2026 NFL Combine. A report came out after the combine finished that Downs' profile didn't come away unscathed from the weeklong event, and that a medical test showed that he was dealing Joona Koppanen Jersey with a "degenerative ACL." The report came from a website called "Daft on Draft," and even though the injury would be big news, it wasn't confirmed or picked up by any other outlets, leading many to question the validity of the claim. Here is more on the rumors that Downs is operating with a "degenerative ACL." MORE : Is Caleb Downs injured? The claim that Downs was dealing with a "degenerative ACL" was first reported by . He wrote, "Ending on a bummer here, I was told by an NFC scout that Ohio State all-cla s safety Caleb Downs had a couple of i sues flagged during his medical check. Nobody expected him to test this week anyway, so it flew a bit under the radar. However, I was told that Downs was flagged with a partially torn meniscus this week. That is not a serious concern,but also being flagged with a potentially degenerative ACL is. Now, this is not to signify any sort of significant drop for Downs, who likely will return and get a second opinion and a second check. Besides, plenty of NFL players have been flagged with degenerative knees before, but have gone on to have succe sful NFL careers. The report made the rounds on social media and has since been deleted from the website. In fact, if you search "Caleb Downs" on the website, no article comes up about the safety published after February 13, two weeks before the NFL Combine. The topic was brought up on the . He said that he and his team reached out to NFL teams, and he said, "Multiple NFL teams have told us there is nothing in the medical that would deter us from bringing Caleb Downs in, especially with how great of a football player he is.There wasnt one NFL team we talked to this morning that said anything was wrong, and we talked to multiple. This feels like its all bulls, but this is kind of the name of the game in this time. It is unknown if Downs is actually injured or not, but the original report that had the information has been deleted, and no other sources have reported it without referencing Kinnan's initial report. What is a degenerative ACL? A degenerative ACL is also known as Mucoid Degeneration of the ACL. It is a where the ligament ti sue breaks down and thickens due to an accumulation of mucoid-like substances. Basically, it causes pain, stiffne s and can limit the range of motion. It can be treated with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatory drugs, but if it persists, arthroscopic surgery could be used to remove the ti sue and free up the joint. MORE : Caleb Downs injury history The injury rumors for Downs stuck out even more because of how clean his bill of health has been. The safety was never listed on an injury report during his collegiate career and never mi sed a game during his tenure at Alabama and Ohio State. For now, there are no credible reports of injury, but that doesn't mean he is completely healthy. He chose not to test at the 2026 NFL Combine, so he could be dealing with an i sue, but nothing has been reported and confirmed one way or the other. Caleb Downs draft projection Downs is projected to be a top-five pick in the 2026 NFL Draft by most analysts, with nearly everyone a suming that he doesn't fall out of the top-10. In , he had Downs being drafted by the with the fifth overall pick. After the Combine, has Downs falling to No. 7 and being selected by the . has him landing with the at No. 9 after the Jets move back in the draft in a trade with the . Before the NFL Combine, also had Downs going to the Jets, but with their No. 2 pick and without a trade. Tom Kuhnhackl Jersey