Today’s scouting report looks at a prospect that was so far off Notre Dame’s and the NFL’s radar 4 years ago that it’s a testament to hard work and perseverance that this safety is in a position to possibly earn a paycheck playing professionally. Following a very solid college career but a disappointing training season there are still many questions about Alohi Gilman’s chances at the next level.

SPECS

Name: Alohi Gilman
Position: S
Height: 5-10 (per the Combine)
Weight: 201 (per the Combine)
Hometown: Laie, HI

STATS

YEAR SOLO ASST TACKLES TFL PD
2016 50 26 76 5.0 5
2018 58 36 94 3.0 5
2019 32 42 74 3.0 2
TOTAL 140 104 244 11.0 12

BIO:

Gilman was an un-ranked recruit who signed with Navy in 2015 and spent a year at the Naval Academy Prep School before having a breakout freshman season with the Middies in 2016. That season, he played a big role defensively in Navy’s upset of Notre Dame and then turned around during the off-season and declared his intention to transfer to the Fighting Irish.

Unfortunately, Gilman’s waiver lingered until right up to the 2017 season and he was ultimately denied eligibility. While not making a big splash in practice, Gilman fulfilled his promise as an excellent college safety in 2018 finishing 2nd on the team in tackles in the middle of a growing leadership role.

For 2019, Gilman was named one of the team’s captains–and despite sharing more reps with 5-star safety prospect Kyle Hamilton–he was able to turn in another strong season at safety.

STRENGTHS:

Elite effort and passion. Excels at coming down hill and being disruptive. When he times things properly, Gilman can deliver a brand of physicality greater than his size. Excellent leadership and toughness. He can run with tight ends and larger receivers. Able to blossom in a role that doesn’t ask him to do too much in coverage.

WEAKNESSES:

Doesn’t have the size to excel near the line of scrimmage in the NFL. Spotty tackler. Gets taken for a ride too often dragging ball-carriers down to the ground while allowing extra yardage. Prone to coverage busts. Needs to be more patient as tackler and control his aggressiveness. Gilman would need a lot of time working on his instincts on the back end of the defense in coverage to succeed as a pro.

OVERVIEW:

Like many fringe prospects, Gilman needed a big NFL Combine to really boost his stock and that didn’t happen. He’s a curious player because of his interesting background via a transfer from Navy to Notre Dame. Surely, most fans of either team never expected Gilman to be this involved in a potential professional career?

He’s also a weird prospect in that, due to his year at NAPS and lost 2017, he’s actually one of the oldest players vying to be drafted. At the same time, it doesn’t feel like Gilman is super experienced because his career was so spread out and I wonder if there’s a chance his ceiling is a little higher than expected once he devotes his life to football.

In other words, Gilman with his hard work and leadership looks an awful lot like the Matthias Farley’s of the Notre Dame world who go on to have much more than a cup of coffee in the NFL, despite the odds.

PREDICTION:

Undrafted Free Agent, Signed by the Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles has Derwin James and Nasier Adderely both who were 1st and 2nd round picks, respectively. Although, both missed huge chunks of 2019 with injuries and there isn’t much proven depth behind them. The Chargers already started an undrafted free agent rookie (Roderick Teamer) for several games last year and Gilman could be worth a contract following the draft.

More scouting reports to come:

Jalen Elliott
Julian Okwara
Khalid Kareem
Jamir Jones