Notre Dame DB's Are Risers After Senior Bowl Practices

Strong practice performances at the Senior Bowl have boosted the stock of a pair of Notre Dame defensive backs

Author:
Bryan Driskell
Publish date:
Jan 24, 2020 2:23 PM EST

There is a reason Notre Dame had a Top 5 passing defense in 2019 and the No. 6 pass defense in the country in 2018, and the talent that fueled that success was on display in Mobile. Ala. this week at the Reese's Senior Bowl.

Three Notre Dame defensive backs were in attendance, cornerback Troy Pride Jr. and safeties Jalen Elliott and Alohi Gilman. Pride got praise from analysts throughout the week, and Elliott was named the Top DB for the North Squad.

With the NFL Draft three months away, Pro Football Focus ranked Elliott and Pride as risers up the draft after their Senior Bowl performance.

Here is what Austin Gayle of PFF wrote about Elliott:

"Notre Dame’s Elliott, a 6-foot, 205-pound safety prospect, was spectacular in the one-on-one drills against tight ends in Mobile. He’s an aggressive player with above average quickness in and out of his breaks. The tight ends in attendance really struggled to create separation against Elliott all week."

Here is Gayle's analysis of Pride:

"No defensive player had a better week than Notre Dame’s Pride. A former track star who weighed in at 5-foot-11, 193 pounds, Pride said he wants to run in the 4.2s at the NFL combine and showed in one-on-one drills that he very well could hit the mark with his ability to stick with any receiver in Mobile down the football field. Pride was sticky in press man all week and rarely got beat. He’s a special player that should draw significant interest at the top of Day 2, if not Day 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft."

Gilman has not had much written about him, but he did check in as one of the five fastest players for the North squad during the first day of practice.