Earlier this season on Sept. 30, following the first carer interception for Alabama freshman Caleb Downs, a clip recirculated among Tide fans on social media.

It featured Downs and two other Alabama freshmen, Justice Haynes and Dylan Lonergan, clad in Georgia Bulldog red, taking a recruiting video together. For a time, it seemed like back-to-back national championships would be enough for Kirby Smart and co. to thrive via in-state recruiting during one of the better years the Peach State has had in a modern era. But eventually, all three would end up in Tuscaloosa.

And while Haynes and Lonergan have continued their development mostly behind closed doors, Downs has lived up to the hype as a potential Day-1 starter. That’s no surprise to Smart, who said on Thursday that he’s probably seen Downs play in “100s” of 7-on-7 games during his high school career.

“No, he don’t look like a freshman at all,” Smart said during the Southeastern Conference Championship press conference. “He looks like a guy that’s been playing for three years. He’s instinctive. He’s fast. He’s fearless. He’s everything that he was in high school. … Great tackler. Just what you draw up when you want a defensive back.”

Smart will coach against Downs for the first time in the SEC Championship game in Mercedes-Benz Stadium this Saturday, a venue Downs frequented as a member of Mill Creek High.

Downs leads Alabama with 95 total tackles. The next closest is Jihaad Campbell’s 61. Downs has added two interceptions, a forced fumble, a scoop-and-return to the 1-yard line and 2.5 tackles for loss. Downs has also taken over punt return duties for Kool-Aid McKinstry, scoring a touchdown against Chattanooga.

In a secondary unit that brought in two transfer portal pieces and had two to three returning starters, Downs has made himself a key cog in Nick Saban’s defense, referred to as DBU for its ability to produce professional defensive backs. Teammate Terrion Arnold took it a step further, saying in October that Downs and Saban share a few personality traits. Saban demurred when asked about the comparison, but like he has since Downs arrived on campus before last season’s Sugar Bowl, Saban praised Downs’ work ethic.

“I like Caleb Downs, I think he’s got a lot of good characteristics as a person. He’s got great competitive attitude about how he goes about things, how he prepares. He’s very serious, he pays attention to detail, really has a lot of pride in performance. I don’t know if anybody can say that about me, so I’m not comparing myself to him at all. But I like the intangibles he plays with and that he has as a person,” said Saban.

Downs has mostly played deep centerfield safety. But against Kentucky and again last weekend against Auburn, Downs rotated to star or nickel cornerback. Saban said that adjustment was made to compensate for “bigger people” which could include Georgia tight end Brock Bowers.

Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CT on CBS.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].