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One would think that drafting Caleb Downs would be enough for Dallas Cowboys fans to overlook something like a jersey number. But why shouldn\u2019t they\u00a0have their cake and eat it, too?<\/p>\n
So,\u00a0when Downs debuted in No. 18 at rookie minicamp, fans made their dissatisfaction heard on social media, and understandably so. A star defensive back wearing a jersey in the teens? After dominating college football in the No. 2 jersey the last three years? Hard pass.<\/p>\n
The good news is that Downs has changed his number. Unfortunately, he is now listed as No. 13 on the Cowboys\u2019 official website, and\u00a0fans aren\u2019t thrilled. It remains to be seen if he will strike a deal with Cobie Durant for No. 2, but it sounds like he\u2019s content with his new digits.<\/p>\n
On the\u00a0Downs 2 Business\u00a0<\/em>podcast with his brother, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs, the Cowboys\u2019 first-round pick explained why he settled on No. 13.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, it was Odell [Beckham Jr.], but defensive wise, it was Malachi Moore,\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Downs said.\u00a0\u201cShout out to Malachi. When he was at Bama his freshman year, watching that, when I was like a freshman in high school, I was like, oh, that\u2019s tough. 13, that\u2019s smooth.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n After the siblings shared some laughs about why Downs would never stick with No. 18, he said, \u201c13 is cool with me.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s no arguing that 13 is better than 18, but that\u2019s a low bar to clear. A lot of great NFL players wore No. 13, but most of them were quarterbacks (Dan Marino, Kurt Warner) or wide receivers (Don Maynard, Mike Evans, Keenan Allen). See the issue?<\/p>\n Some of the best defensive backs in Cowboys history wore numbers in the 20s, including Darren Woodson (28), Deion Sanders (21), Mel Renfro (20), Everson Walls (24), and Cornell Green (28). Times have changed, and single digits are more common among DBs now, but it\u2019s easy to see why fans would rather see Downs reclaim No. 2 or move into the 20s.<\/p>\n The biggest exception might be former cornerback Terence Newman, who wore No. 41 for all nine of his seasons in Dallas. He was assigned it as a rookie and never gave it up. Not exactly a \u201ccornerback number,\u201d but Newman made it work by playing at a high level.<\/p>\n Downs could follow Newman\u2019s lead and make No. 13 his own. But the ideal outcome is the 21-year-old finding a way to get number 2 back.<\/p>\n That will be easier said than done, however.<\/p>\n Cobie Durant holding No. 2 is one hurdle, but safety Markquese Bell currently has No. 14, the number Durant wore in college and with the Los Angeles Rams. If Durant were to switch back to 14, both he and Bell would have to be willing to change numbers for Downs to reassume No. 2.<\/p>\n For the time being, Downs is number 13. He seems content with it, but something tells me this isn\u2019t the last we heard of the jersey discourse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One would think that drafting Caleb Downs would be enough for Dallas Cowboys fans to overlook something like a jersey number. But why shouldn\u2019t they\u00a0have their cake… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\nFor now, Dallas Cowboys\u2019 rookie is content with the No. 13 jersey<\/h2>\n