Notre Dame football: Predicting Alohi Gilman’s NFL Draft

With the 2020 NFL Draft fast approaching, we predict where former Notre Dame safety Alohi Gilman hears his name called in the draft.

Notre Dame fans are very familiar with what former Irish safety Alohi Gilman brings to the game of football. He’s a player who has a nose for making big plays and even bigger hits while serving as a team leader on and off of the football field.

After missing the Reese’s Senior Bowl game because of a hamstring injury that he sustained during practice leading up to the game, Gilman sought out to make a name for himself at the NFL Combine.

At the official measurements at the NFL Combine, Gilman’s height of 5’10” and weight of 201-pounds were in line with a prototypical safety in the National Football League. Gilman’s official 40-yard dash time of 4.60 seconds was good enough for 12th-best among participating safeties.

In the bench press, Gilman would do 17 reps of 225-pounds, which was good for 11th-best in the group. He finished last in the vertical jump with a 32″ jumo and fourth-worst in the safety group with a jump of 119″ in the broad jump. However, he would finish second-best in the 20-yard shuttle with a time of 4.08 seconds and in the three-cone drill with a time of 6.81 seconds.

Overall, Alohi Gilman did not hurt his draft stock with his combine performance. Before the combine, he was being projected mainly between the third and sixth rounds of the draft by most draft experts. Following his combine results, Gilman has typically been projected going in the third or fourth rounds of the draft.

I’m predicting that Alohi Gilman is selected by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the draft with their compensatory pick they were awarded. Gilman seems to be the ideal fit in Chicago who may be looking for additional safety depth behind starters Eddie Jackson and Deon Bush.

In Chicago, Gilman has the chance to become an iconic fan favorite. He embodies the blue-collar attitude of Chicago, having fought through adversity and doubt to become a playmaker just down the road in South Bend, Indiana.

If Gilman were to be selected by the Bears, he would join former Irish teammates Sam Mustipher and Alex Bars on Chicago’s roster. The Bears have had one of the best defenses in the league for the past couple of years. Adding Gilman gives them a safety with all the intangibles who will grind it out and undoubtedly make a name for himself in Chicago or in any other city where he may land in the draft.