Notre Dame Football: Three Irish should find themselves on Thorpe Award watch list

Notre Dame football’s Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott emerged as game-changers at safety in 2018, while Troy Pride is poised for a tremendous 2019.

The emergence of Alohi Gilman was one of the brightest spots of the 2018 season for the Notre Dame football team. Gilman, a transfer from the Naval Academy, provided a stability to the Irish defensive backfield that the Irish hadn’t experienced in quite some time. But Gilman wasn’t the only one who stood out in the Irish defense.

Beside Gilman, Jalen Elliott had a career season for the Irish, giving Notre Dame one of the most complete and reliable safety combinations in college football.

Still, Troy Pride emerged as a tremendous number-two corner alongside Julian Love and is poised to repeat (and build on) his success in 2019.

The good news: Notre Dame returns all three players in 2019. All of them should be on the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation’s best defensive back.

Gilman finished 2018 after playing in all 13 games for the Irish. He amassed 94 total tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble.

Elliott finished the year with 67 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble, while also starting all 13 games for the Irish.

Finally, Pride finished 2018 with 47 tackles and 2 interceptions.

Often, the winner of the Thorpe Award is a cornerback, which would seem to give the edge to Pride. For context, last year’s winner, Deandre Baker out of Georgia, finished with only 40 tackles and 2 interceptions.

Perhaps the problem with the Thorpe Award is that it is largely subjective–the best defensive backs in college football often don’t have the best stats because offenses tend to avoid throwing their direction at all costs. For Notre Dame, the good news is that teams can’t avoid Gilman, Elliott, and Pride.

It’s not like Irish defensive backs go unnoticed–Julian Love finished second in the Thorpe Award voting a season ago.