Saints WR Chris Olave gives Cowboys rookie Caleb Downs welcome-to-the-NFL moment

There were no questions about whether Olave caught a touchdown pass against Downs during red-zone work. The WR zoomed past the safety and maintained control after he caught him and tried to knock the ball out.

They don't keep scorecards for individual matchups in practice, but if they did, the final tally would give Olave a clear win. 

Now, for those who may be wondering if this signals Downs could be a bust, don't be. Many scouts consider Downs, the 11th pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, a generational prospect, and some compared him to Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed during the predraft process. He's already been living up to some of the hype during the offseason program, drawing rave reviews. 

"[Downs] is what we thought," Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said in May. "The person, elite. The intelligence, elite." 

All rookies, however, experience growing pains. This helps them realize they can't get away with some of the things they did in college, especially when facing stars like Olave, who ranked eighth in the NFL in receiving yards (1,163) last season.