With the Dallas Cowboys having been ravaged by injuries in the secondary this season, it has forced them to deploy rookie defensive back Caleb Downs in a less preferred spot.
Through five games, the Cowboys have seen safeties Malik Hooker, P.J. Locke and Jalen Thompson all get hurt, with Thompson and Locke landing on injured reserve.
As a result, Downs has played almost exclusively at safety the last two weeks, with just eight snaps in the slot in that span.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer admitted that is not where the Cowboys prefer him to play, but they've had to deploy him there because of the aforementioned injuries.
However, Schottenheimer hinted that the team could look to get Downs back into the slot, where he played the majority of his snaps over the first three contests.
“That’s not the design for Caleb,” Schottenheimer said of Downs at safety, according to Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News. “We want Caleb down near the line of scrimmage.”
“We want him around the ball," he added. "We want him playing nickel, but because we’re so beat up at safety, he’s had to play back there and we want to try to get him more involved and he’s able to make a lot more plays when he’s up around the line of scrimmage."
As you would expect, Downs says he is, well, down for whatever the Cowboys want him to do, and for whatever gets him around the ball more.
“Either one,” Downs said. “Wherever the ball is at. So if I get to be around the ball more at nickel, then that’s what it is.”
A much-needed change
With the Packers' ability to attack downfield, Downs might actually be near the ball more in Week 6 if he plays at safety, but otherwise having him at the line of scrimmage will typically get him more regularly involved.
Not only does that give Downs more coverage opportunities, but he can also be deployed to blitz more often.
Schottenheimer has promised change this week and we suspect one of those changes will be putting Downs back in the slot, where he can make a bigger impact.
How the Cowboys will cover for moving Downs back to the slot remains to be seen, though, as Locke and Thompson are still sidelined due to injury.
The Cowboys have some options when it comes to a running mate for Hooker, who will start at one safety spot. Markquese Bell and Alijah Clark are ready to go, and Dallas has Juanyeh Thomas as another option on the practice squad.
Downs will still see snaps at safety in base defense, but we'd expect to see more snaps in the slot on Sunday.
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