Despite all of the progress made by the 2017 Notre Dame defense, the one position group that fell short of expectations was safety. And those expectations were pretty low to being with. Notre Dame safeties failed to record a single interception all season and the play from both positions was often the source of angst for Irish fans. That could very well change in 2018 though – especially if some of the hype around former Navy transfer Alohi Gilman holds true.
Gilman unsuccessfully petitioned for immediate eligibility last year after his transfer, but was denied by the NCAA even though he did have a pretty strong argument.