Lockdown Corner

By John Roth, GoDuke the Magazine

According to the big data compiled by analysts at Pro Football Focus (PFF), the average quarterback passer rating in NCAA football last season was 90.4 — a number that, isolated on the surface, doesn't convey much meaning. It encompasses everything from the gaudy Heisman statistics generated by No. 1 NFL draft pick Baker Mayfield to the miniscule aerial figures tossed out by Army West Point senior Ahmad Bradshaw, who attempted just 43 passes while guiding his run-oriented squad to 10 wins. Given the very uneven variables of talent distribution vs. style of play vs. strength of schedule across the college football landscape, national averages like this serve as little more than reference points.

But in the case of Duke's Mark Gilbert, that reference point seems like an appropriate jumping off point for an evaluation of just how successful his 2017 performance was for the Blue Devils – and what it could mean for his future.

How can quarterback ratings measure value for a cornerback such as Gilbert? Well, among the 80+ data points captured for every play of every college game are a passer's efficacy in a host of situations, including all the various routes his receivers are running and the defenders and coverages they are working against. That enables PFF to produce advanced statistics on the DBs as well as the QBs, and in Gilbert's case, the assessment from 2017 was quite favorable.

On the field for 914 snaps as a starter in all 13 games, the 6-foot-1 sophomore emerged as a shutdown competitor in the passing game. Opposing quarterbacks posted a meager 46.6 passer rating when throwing into his coverage. Again, this a number that doesn't carry much intuitive weight to the casual observer — but when you consider that it was a whopping 43.8 points below that national passer rating average, it's a pretty clear indication that Gilbert dominated almost everyone who invaded his proverbial island in the defense.

And compared to some of the other top corners in the country, Gilbert more than held his own in this metric. He wasn't in the same territory as Louisville's Jaire Alexander, who forced the lowest passer rating in the country at 17.7 and went No. 18 in the NFL Draft, or Iowa's Josh Jackson, a second-round pick with a 31.3 passer rating against him. But Gilbert's passer rating was slightly better than No. 4 pick Denzel Ward (Ohio State) at 52.9 and much lower than second-round picks Donte Jackson (LSU) and Isaiah Oliver (Colorado).

In fact, PFF's overall 2017 grade for Gilbert marks him as the No. 2 returning corner in the country entering the 2018 season — with analysts speculating that he could play his way into first-round draft status with a similar showing this fall.

Opponents attempted 330 passes against Duke last year and Gilbert's man was targeted only 60 times. His is a case where small sample size supports rather than skews the significance of the stats, further evidence that QBs didn't want to throw at Gilbert. Six of those 60 were intercepted, another 10 were broken up and just 23 were caught, giving him the ninth best catch rate in the nation at 38 percent. In retrospect, steering clear of Gilbert Island was typically the smart play, as wideouts who wandered onto its shores often wound up stranded.

Gilbert's efforts earned him more votes than any other cornerback in All-ACC balloting, placing him on the first team in his first full year as a starter. He has been deemed a preseason All-America pick heading into the 2018 campaign and is on the watch list for several major awards, including the Jim Thorpe Award that goes to the top defensive back in the nation.

But numbers, analytics, votes and honors represent only a fraction of the Mark Gilbert narrative. His family, his drive, his maturity, his coaching — not to mention his physical gifts — all have played a role in getting him to this point. And the manner in which he handles the mantle of leadership will largely define the campaign ahead of him, as he stands unquestionably as the captain of a defensive backs room teeming with young, prized prospects all eager for the kind of breakout year he enjoyed in 2017.

“I don't think it's about numbers at all with Mark,” said Duke defensive backs coach Derek Jones, who has viewed all of Gilbert's career snaps in person and graded them on video. “When you watch Mark in practice, it's become a trend — he always gets his hands on the ball, he always finds a way to get back in position, he always finds a way to make plays on the ball in a turnover aspect.

“I guess seeing him so much, I never paid attention to the statistics. When you look at him and compare him to other good players I've coached like Ross Cockrell and Breon Borders, it's kind of mind-boggling that he played better than them in one season — and I thought they were really good players. I never really noticed it (statistically) because I always see it.”

Given the Gilbert gene pool, there should be no shock value attached to Mark's emergence as a premier competitor. His uncle Sean Gilbert (his dad's brother) played on the defensive line at Pitt, was the No. 3 pick in the 1992 NFL Draft and enjoyed an 11-year pro career. And his first cousin (his dad's sister's son) was the proprietor of the most illustrious cornerback island in recent NFL history. That would be Darrelle Revis, also a Pitt alum, who played 10 pro seasons and made the Pro Bowl seven times. The namesake of Revis Island was the AFC defensive player of the year in 2009 with the Jets and a Super Bowl champion in 2014 with the Patriots.

Gilbert acknowledges that the family tree has had a significant impact on his football development.

“They've been through it, college and the pros,” Gilbert explained. “Their focus is kind of on me now to help me as much as possible while I'm still in college. For me it's more so just learning. I learn from them. I'm not really focused on anything pro-wise. I try to learn as much as I can from them about football IQ. You can never stop learning about the game.

“I talk to my uncle all the time. I talk to Darrelle regularly. He has more time on his hands now (since his recent retirement). He watches the games all the time. He was at the Pitt game last season. He makes an effort to be involved.”

When Mark visited with Darrelle during spring break last March, he asked his cousin if he'd mind the obvious reference to Revis Island with his own use of Gilbert Island as a promotional tool. Gilbert received his endorsement, although that was probably not quite as big a blessing as the chance to train with Revis during the summers following his first three years of high school.

“I went to all his high school games, all his college games, many of his pro games, so I've seen him a whole lot,” Gilbert said.

“Mostly during training, little things technique-wise that he learned during the course of his career, mental things, off-the-field things like film study, anything that he learned that gave him an edge, he's shared with me.

“That alone is a blessing. That's all I can say — it's a blessing to have that resource.”

Gilbert also had a major influence on his mom's side of the family, his maternal grandmother who passed away in 2006. Her name is tattooed around his wrist in script, merged with her birthday in Roman numerals. He refers to that as the most meaningful ink he's added to the kaleidoscope of tattoos on his upper body, all originating during his college days.

“It was tough when she passed away because she played such a big role in my upbringing,” Gilbert said. “I was home-schooled until third grade. While my parents worked I was at home with her all day. Any errands she had to run, I was right there by her side. It was a tough time for me when she passed. She was a very big reason — if you asked me who you do it for, I do it for my grandmother.”

Gilbert was considered the No. 2 cornerback prospect in the state when he was a senior at Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville, N.C. Initially he played both corner and wide receiver, but he gave up offense to focus on defense after fracturing his leg during his sophomore year.

He was also an accomplished prep basketball player, leading his school to the state championship as a junior and earning title-game MVP honors with a 31-point performance. He didn't play hoops as a senior due to his early enrollment at Duke in January of that year. But he has always viewed his basketball skills as complementary to his football career.

“I was big on basketball before I started playing football, and a lot of that transferred,” he noted. “Just being able to stay in front of the receiver and being able to react off his move, it's basically the same thing as a guy dribbling the ball and you're trying to stay in front of him. A guy running a route, you're trying to stay in front of him as much as you can and just running with him. So they go together very well.”

After getting a head start on the playbook in the spring of 2016, Gilbert saw action in every game as a true freshman the following fall. He started the last three after the incumbent, Borders, suffered a late-season injury. His first career start was the Thursday night win over No. 15 North Carolina, a game in which he made seven tackles while the Blue Devil defense held future No. 2 draft pick Mitch Trubisky's offense to just two field goals in the second half.

With Borders gone to the NFL, Gilbert claimed the starting role for every Saturday last fall. Usually he lined up on the wide side of the field, while senior Bryon Fields Jr. handled the boundary side. DBs coach Jones hints that strategy could change from week to week this year to best take advantage of Gilbert's ball skills and lockdown abilities — traits that not only anchor the pass defense but also fortify the aggressiveness Duke favors from its defensive front.

“We don't really want the opponent to know where he's going to be so they can plan what they're going to do in their passing attack away from him,” Jones said. “He's proven himself to be one of the top corners in this league and the country, so when we're going against somebody who has a guy that we feel causes us a matchup problem, he's the best I've got, so we'll try to match him up against that guy. He and I met in the offseason and that's one of the things he asked me that he wanted. You are always happy as a coach when a guy comes to you and says I want to be able to challenge the best receiver of the opponent we're playing against.”

One of the best he goes against on the practice field, senior wideout Johnathan Lloyd, expects opponents to avoid Gilbert in many situations. “Offensive coordinators have egos too…so I'm sure he'll get tried, but he'll prove to everybody soon enough that they need to throw to the other side,” Lloyd said.

“He's smart, he has great technique and he's very athletic, so it's not a matter of just beating him with athleticism because he can run and jump and do all of that. He understands the game, so he's able to put himself in good position. He's able to read routes, read leverage, things like that, to put himself in good position to make plays on the ball and be in good defending position as well.”

Jones has been impressed with Gilbert's growth as a mentor for the otherwise youthful 2018 Duke secondary. Senior linebacker Ben Humphreys says it's obvious that Gilbert has seamlessly stepped into the leadership role vacated by Fields' graduation. Many of the first- and second-year prospects, it seems, are not only learning the lessons of his experience but feeding off his spirit and ever-present confidence.

“I recently had a conversation with someone who told me to go out and whatever it is — not just football, but whatever it is — go out feeling like you are the best for that job or that position,” Gilbert said of the mindset he's tried to embrace. “So every time I go out, I feel like I'm the best player out there. That's the kind of confidence you have to have, especially playing corner.”

“He has the pedigree of course, but I just think Mark is a very self-driven person,” Jones said. “Even the fact of him choosing Duke when so many people thought he would follow in the footsteps of his family to Pitt or some of the other local schools he had coming after him — he chose to come here to establish himself. You've got to admire a guy like that. When he came in as a freshman he wanted to go against the best guy on the other side, so I just think he's one of those rare guys who is self-driven and self-motivated, and you can't ask for more as a coach.”