Irish Defensive Backs Carry Chip On Shoulder Through 2020 NFL Draft Process
The three Notre Dame defensive backs at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine — Alohi Gilman, Jalen Elliott and Troy Pride — have all traveled down a different path to get this stage. None were ever considered "can't miss" prospects at any point in their careers, which has only added a chip on their shoulders.
This is perhaps exemplified the most in former Notre Dame safety Alohi Gilman.
He went from an unheralded recruit with a single division one offer from Navy to a captain at Notre Dame.
But even now, his game is still being torn apart and, once again, people are wondering if he has what it takes to make it at the next level.
Is he big enough? Fast enough? Strong enough?
"I'm used to it at this point," Gilman said. "Every level that I've been to, it has been the same scenario. Coming into this situation and seeing the same things, it just adds more of a chip on my shoulder, which is a great thing for me, a bad thing for other people."
For instance, most people are talking about fellow Fighting Irish defensive back Troy Pride Jr. and wondering if he can run a 40-time in the 4.2s. But Gilman, who participated in two days of Senior Bowl practices before pulling his hamstring, actually showed that he can run almost as fast as Pride and yet is projected to run a 4.5.
Gilman's top mph at the Senior Bowl was faster than Chase Claypool, who ran an official 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine on Thursday. Given this information, it's not a stretch to assume that Gilman can also produce a time in the low 4.4s.
Right now, Gilman's projections from NFL Draft experts are all over the place. Some see him as a high third-round pick, while others believe he'll be taken at the end of day three.
Pride, a consensus four-star recruit out of his school, has received a lot of love since the Senior Bowl and draft predictions have only risen for the former Fighting Irish cornerback. A few weeks ago, ESPN Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. even said that he believes that Pride will end up a second-round draft pick.
But all the hype hasn't stopped Pride from taking every perceived slight to heart and using it as fuel to push himself.
"I've still got a lot more to do," Pride said. "The fact of the matter is I'm still disrespected in a lot of conversations. With that, it's just going to be me continuing to prove haters wrong, doubters wrong, and do the best that I can to show that I'm the best in the country."
Will running a 4.2-second 40-yard dash at the Combine on Sunday prove to everyone he's the best in the country? No, but it will do a lot for Pride financially to become a second-round pick, not to mention the positive buzz Notre Dame will receive for having two corners taken in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft in back-to-back years. Cornerback is, of course, a position of need for the Fighting Irish in the 2021 recruiting class and beyond.
"I've never been one to want to be complacent, to want to be average," Pride said. With that mindset, I continue to compete and grind in whatever I do."
Pride considers himself a "blanket corner," one with experience playing man-to-man coverage, zone, pressing and that can be effective in space.
The aspect of his game that he feels he needs to work on the most is his open-field tackling. Pro Football Focus agrees with this assessment, grading Pride as an average tackler.
But he showed better at the Senior Bowl than he did during the regular season, and it seems likely his impressive offseason will only continue on Sunday at the NFL Combine.
The laidback Jalen Elliott doesn't appear hellbent on proving the doubters wrong like Gilman and Pride are, but the former Notre Dame captain is out to prove that he still hasn't played his best football, not even close.
In high school, Elliott's primary position on the football field was quarterback. He did play some cornerback in high school, but he did not begin to truly learn the nuances of the safety position until he arrived at Notre Dame in the fall of 2016.
In his first two seasons, Elliott took his lumps and made many mistakes, only to learn from them and become a better, more well-rounded player in his junior and senior seasons.
But that doesn't mean his development is finished.
"I'm still learning and continuing to grow each and every day," Elliott said. "That's huge for me in my progression and my development. My best football has yet to come, and I'm just continuing to grow, continuing to learn and I have nowhere to go up."
Another part of Elliott's game that has impress scouts is his ability to lead his peers, even though those he played with for a week at the Senior Bowl.
"I'm going to lead in any situation. Anytime I come into a new situation, I'm going to be that outgoing person that's going to reach out to somebody," he said. "I take pride in knowing my guys know how to lead my guys. I know that not everybody needs a rah-rah guy. Some guys just need a tap on the shoulder, like 'let's go.'
"That's what I try to do, come in and learn the guys and come in and lead."
That doesn't mean he's unwilling to take a step back and listen to NFL veterans and learn from their knowledge and experience, but Elliott feels as if his leadership abilities and personality will be an asset to any locker room even as a rookie.
All three Notre Dame defensive backs at the NFL Combine are driven by their pasts, present and what they hope to accomplish in the future.
For his entire career, Gilman has been underrated and overlooked. Pride is unwilling to settle until every NFL scout, general manager and coach consider him the best cornerback in the draft. Meanwhile, Elliott has a track record of adapting and improving at every step of his career.
"We're a competitive group," Gilman said. "But in terms of having that chip, we all created that chip from a different journey. We all have a different type of chip on our shoulder. Every person has a different motivation."
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