The college football world received a shockwave Wednesday morning as news broke that perhaps the best position player in college football, Alabama safety Caleb Downs will be entering the NCAA Transfer Portal following the departure of legendary coach Nick Saban.

Downs, a former 5-star from Hoschton, Georgia was heavily pursued by everyone in college football during his high school recruitment but eventually decided to continue his football career under the tutelage of Nick Saban. However, with Saban no longer coaching the Tide, Downs could be in search of a new team.

Downs’ first year with the Tide was a massive success. As a true freshman, he accounted for 107 tackles and two interceptions which earned 2nd-team All-American honors. His addition to any roster would be paramount. So, where could he go?

Georgia

There was no official order of the finishers in his original recruitment. However, it was obvious that Georgia was a threat throughout and perhaps led at points during his high school career. With the addition of Travaris Robinson to the coaching staff in Athens, there’s a tremendous amount of familiarity on the staff dating back to even Josh Downs’ (Caleb’s older brother) recruitment.

Georgia also has the upper hand with regard to schematic familiarity. Downs is coming from a split-safety, 4-2-5-based defense at Alabama that featured extremely versatile defensive backs, particularly at the safety position. Georgia is the smoothest transition and provides the safest path to continuity in performance for the freshman all-American.

Ohio State

The Buckeyes did a tremendous job in the Downs’ original recruitment to even get into the mix on what seemed to be a born-to-be Southeastern All-American football player. And the path to that success was none other than defensive backs coach Tim Walton who has had a lengthy and prosperous career coaching the defensive back position. Walton still being in tact is ideal for the Buckeyes’ chances, though there has been a bit of a schematical switch in recent times at Ohio State. Defensive Coordinator Jim Knowles has implemented a 3-safety defense. Something that, though features the safeties in unique ways, isn’t the ideal transition for Downs.