Top 5 richest Ohio State Buckeyes based on NIL

4. Caleb Downs

Downs is another fresh face in Columbus who has the same NIL valuation as Sayin at $946,000. Unlike Sayin, the talented 6-foot, 205-pound safety has seen the field plenty in 2024 and has been a big reason for Ohio State’s success defensively.

Downs has been one of the premier safeties in college football as a sophomore following a 2023 season where he was named SEC Freshman of the Year at Alabama. He transferred to Columbus following Nick Saban’s retirement and continues to live up to the hype he had coming out of Mill Creek High School in Georgia where he was a five-star recruit and top-10 player in his class. Downs also has good bloodlines in the sport as the nephew of former NFL cornerback Dre Bly and the brother of Colts wide receiver Josh Downs.

Caleb is in line for big money as a likely early-round NFL draft pick in a couple of years, but he is already making the most of his NIL opportunities, starring in an ad for clothing brand American Eagle this past summer through The Foundation. He was also one of 11 players to sign an NIL deal with Beats by Dre this past August and landed a deal with local food chain Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. Caleb has partnered with clothing brand Rhoback and helped create an NIL app at Ohio State called Launchpoint as well.

Caleb Downs @Caleb_Downs2 is launching an NIL app at Ohio State 🌰

Buckeye athletes: download Launchpoint in the App Store today https://t.co/QjK8nfCpu5 🚀

The strongest tech in NIL 💪

Use code “BETA” to sign up ✅ pic.twitter.com/7S8jRyv3qy

— Launchpoint (@launchpointhq) August 11, 2024