Three Buckeyes were named to the Walter Camp All-American list during the College Football Awards Show on ESPN on Thursday. Senior center Seth McLaughlin and sophomore safety Caleb Downs were featured on the first-team All-American list while freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith made the second-team All-America list.
Downs, the former SEC Freshman of the Year at Alabama, was widely viewed as the best player to enter the transfer portal last season and a major addition for Ohio State. He has been sensational in his first year with the Buckeyes, recording 61 total tackles with an interception, three pass deflections, a half of a sack and 6.5 tackles for loss. Downs was previously a first-team All-Big Ten selection on Dec. 3 and a finalist for both the Bednarik Award given to the nation’s best defender, and the Thorpe Award given to the nation’s best cornerback.
He didn’t win those awards, losing to Colorado cornerback Travis Hunter and Texas cornerback Jahdae Barron, respectively
Fellow Alabama transfer McLaughlin may not have had the finish he wanted to his season on the field after suffering a season-ending torn Achilles injury ahead of the Indiana game, but off the field he added plenty of recognition to his résumé. Not only was the graduate senior named a first-team Walter Camp All-American, but he also took home the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation’s best center, during the awards ceremony.
With McLaughlin leading the offensive line in the first 10 games of the season, the unit only conceded 1.2 sacks per game, which was tied for 24th best in the country.
Maybe the only player generating more excitement than Downs in the offseason was Smith. The former No. 1-overall recruit in the country more than lived up to the hype in his first season with the Buckeyes. He easily broke Cris Carter’s freshman receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns records, finishing the regular season with 57 catches for a team-high 934 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns.
