Is Caleb Downs projected to slip in the NFL Draft due to a knee issue?

Ohio State product Caleb Downs is projected as a top-3 pick in this year's NFL Draft, but is a significant knee issue enough to drop him a few slots?

Corey Kinnan from Daft on Draft wrote that Downs came away from the Scouting Combine with some bad news, saying, Ending on a bummer here, I was told by an NFC scout that Ohio State all-class safety Caleb Downs had a couple of issues flagged during his medical check,” Kinnan wrote.

“Nobody expected him to test this week anyway, so it flew a bit under the radar. However, I was told that Downs was flagged with a partially torn meniscus this week. That is not a serious concern, but also being flagged with a potentially degenerative ACL is. Now, this is not to signify any sort of significant drop for Downs, who likely will return and get a second opinion and a second check. Besides, plenty of NFL players have been flagged with degenerative knees before, but have gone on to have successful NFL careers.”

The issue doesn't look serious enough to drastically affect his draft status, but he could fall a few spots because some teams want to avoid the risk of a high draft pick now playing for very long and being frightened by the word "degenerative".

Downs has been projected as a top-3 pick by most experts. Still, before the diagnosis, it was a real possibility that, with him playing the safety position, he would be there for the Cincinnati Bengals to take at number 10.

We will keep you updated as the story unfolds.

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Is Caleb Downs projected to slip in the NFL Draft due to a knee issue?