Browns GM explains why Caleb Downs' may be valued high this year

One of the best players in this year's NFL Draft is Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. The only problem is that he plays a position of very small positional value, or does he?

The Cleveland Browns are in a very interesting position for this year's draft. At pick six, they are likely too high for some of the players that they should target, but they are too low to get the blue-chip players in the year's draft. One of those players who is likely going to be on the board when they are up is Downs.

On Thursday, Andrew Berry was asked about Downs and how he is valued on the Browns draft board and how he fits, assuming that he does, into Berry's philosophy.

The answer Berry gave was a fascinating one that really explained how safeties are looked at these days and how defense is starting to appear "positionless."

Looking across the league, some of the best defenses in the NFL have really good safeties. The Ravens with Kyle Hamilton, the impact that Nick Emmanwori made last year en route to the Super Bowl, and some of the other elite teams have elite safeties. The reason that they are so impactful is that they are responsible for playing at all levels of the field.

Berry referred to modern-day defense as "positionless" and even compared it to basketball, where defenders these days are required to tackle Derrick Henry and cover Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Similar to a power forward being switched onto a point guard on the hardwood.

That's unfortunately, the job requirement. Because that is the expectation, the safety position is transitioning from one that historically is less valued to one that is proving to be a difference maker on great defenses.