Yeah I remember a couple of guys saying he wasn’t as long as other guys that were touted as top 10 picks, and like you said, the two guys they used as examples were D James and K Hamilton. Both of those guys are jumbo sized safeties (specifically height).
The analysts said that Downs wasn’t big like those guys, but his smarts and leadership make him a top 10 type of safety.
But James and Hamilton aren’t average sized safeties… they’re very tall, long safeties.
Downs, who is 6-0 205 is around the average size for a safety. Since he is just 6-0, he is built thicker than many safeties.
I remember Bryan Broaddus saying during minicamp that Caleb is more thick and muscular in person than he expected him to be.