Nick Saban provided his take on why Caleb Downs is starting and making an impact as a freshman for the Crimson Tide.
Downs has started all five games of his young college football career and has made an impact in each of them. He was named the SEC Freshman of the Week and the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week for his latest performance against Mississippi State when he had 13 tackles and his first career interception.
Saban feels Downs, who leads Alabama in tackles at the moment, is having success early in Tuscaloosa because he does not do anything ‘like a freshman.’
“He’s played really, really well for us,” Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show when asked about Downs. “But this guy is very mature beyond his years. He doesn’t play like a freshman. He doesn’t prepare like a freshman, kind of understands what it takes to be able to play well in the game. He’s very conscientious and guys that come in with that kind of mindset, they learn and they play quicker. A lot of the guys that are really, really good players in high school, they’ve never really exposed themselves to that kind of attention to detail because they’ve been better than everybody else without having to pay attention to detail and do the little things right.”
Downs will have an opportunity to go up against a talented Texas A&M offense on Saturday in College Station.
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Justin Smith is the Director of Recruiting for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via jdsmith31smith
