Top Defensive Linemen in NFL Draft: Neville Gallimore

Oklahoma’s Neville Gallimore, who paid big money to attend a Canadian football school, ranks No. 8 among this year’s defensive line prospects.

Oklahoma’s Neville Gallimore, who paid big money to attend a Canadian football school, ranks No. 8 among this year’s defensive line prospects.

Neville Gallimore has paid the price to fulfill his NFL dreams.

A native of Ottawa, Canada, Gallimore attended Canada Prep in St. Catharines. Quite literally, Canada Prep is a football school. The coach is Geoff McArthur, a former receiver at Cal who caught passes from Aaron Rodgers. There are a little more than 40 student-athletes at Canada Prep. Tuition starts at $16,500 – a hefty chunk of change that doesn’t include insurance. Canada Prep plays top U.S. high schools. The goal is a simple one: to place Canada’s most promising players in front of college recruiters.

It was a costly investment for Gallimore’s family, but it gave him something his brother, Garry, a former high school basketball standout, lacked: a chance to play major-college program in the United States.

Video: Neville Gallimore on family's sacrifice

“I remember, that summer going into 11th grade after I went to a camp, telling my brother, ‘Hey, I really want to do this. Coach really believes me. If you give me this opportunity, I’ll make the most of it,’” Gallimore said at the Scouting Combine. “It was a tough conversation to have. Just to look my brother and my parents in the eyes and say, ‘I’m not going to disappoint.’ He held me to that. When they made that sacrifice, I started with my back against the wall. I had a semester to prove why I should stay there, why I should be there. I like how it went down just because it put me in a mind-set of every move I had to make had to be the right move. I definitely appreciate that. Had my brother and my parents not made that sacrifice, I don’t even know if I’d be in this position.”

The investment paid off. After a series of recruiting trips to high-profile schools, Gallimore picked Oklahoma.

“I always had a dream of playing at Oklahoma, really since the ninth grade,” Gallimore said. “I remember being with a few of my best friends in the summer of ninth grade and watching ESPN All Access. I’m a Canadian kid, sitting on the couch on a hot summer day, and I’m like: ‘Man, how cool would it be if that was me? How cool would it be, me being from Ottawa, Ontario, from across the country, to go play Division I football?’ Then you fast forward to my senior year and when they offered me I got that opportunity. So, that was a big deal. And when I took the official visit it kind of reassured me that that’s where I needed to be.”

Gallimore was honorable-mention all-Big 12 as a junior and, after dropping almost 30 pounds, a first-team choice as a senior, when he had four sacks, 7.5 tackles for losses and two forced fumbles. His four-season total included nine sacks, 18 TFLs and five forced fumbles. His pressure rate of 11 percent on passes was one of the best in the draft class, according to Sports Info Solutions. With production and explosive athleticism (4.79 in the 40; 1.71 seconds in the first 10 yards was fourth-fastest), he’s put himself in position to be a top-50 draft pick.

“I just hope the game evolves in the sense that coaches and scouts are willing to go wherever they have to go to find the talent,” Gallimore said. “I’m not speaking for Canada, I’m not speaking for Ottawa. I’m speaking for the kids who have a dream and grow up watching football, grow up having that passion, and have that talent and the work ethic. That if you have the desire to play, you won’t have to go out of your way to get found, they’ll come find you. You still have to do your work, as well, but no matter where you come from and what your background is, you still can get that opportunity. Both of my parents are from Jamaica, and when I go there, there is so much talent and so many guys who, if they got an opportunity, I wonder what they’d do with it.”

Video: More of Gallimore at the Scouting Combine

What we like

At 6-foot-2 and 304 pounds, his athleticism is amazing. His 40 time was the second-fastest of any defensive lineman at the Scouting Combine. With the agility to flow vs. zone runs, he’s got a chance to be a three-down weapon. Runs directed at him succeeded only 31 percent of the time, the second-best rate in the draft class, according to Sports Info Solutions. He simply was too quick for college blockers to beat.

What we don’t like

The key words there were “a chance” because he’s far from a finished product. For all of that athleticism and potential, it wasn’t as if Gallimore was a consistent game-wrecker. Of our top 25 defensive linemen, his run-stop percentage ranked 18th, according to Pro Football Focus. He can win with his athleticism but he lacks the power and arm length (32 3/4 inches) to hold up consistently at this point. Plus, the average NFL blocker is much quicker than the average Big 12 blocker. Technical refinement is necessary but he’s got the raw materials and attitude to get there.

Bill Huber’s Defensive Line Profiles

No. 1: Auburn’s Derrick Brown

No. 2: South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw

No. 3: TCU’s Ross Blacklock

No. 4: Missouri’s Jordan Elliott

No. 5: Auburn’s Marlon Davidson

No. 6: Texas A&M’s Justin Madubuike

No. 7: Alabama’s Raekwon Davis

No. 8: Oklahoma’s Neville Gallimore

Nos. 9-20: Best of the Rest