Baltimore Ravens safety Alohi Gilman was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 15 after a superb performance against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The highlight of Gilman’s day was, of course, his 85-yard touchdown off of outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy’s interception. Van Noy picked the ball off at five-yard line and handed it off to Gilman at the 15, and the veteran safety outran the Bengals offense for a dagger
of a score that all-but-ended the game.
But Gilman was effective all game, delivering several crunching tackles and limiting Cincinnati’s explosive plays over the top. He also made three stops and allowed just seven yards on his four targets, per Pro Football Focus.
This week’s award is well-earned, and Gilman deserves plenty of praise in general. His addition in Week 6 stabilizing the back end of the Ravens defense and enabled Kyle Hamilton to line up closer to the line of scrimmage. Both changes have been very effective, as the unit has turned itself around and put up several strong performances, including Sunday’s shutout.
Both Gilman and Ar’Darius Washington are set to hit free agency this offseason, and the Ravens should know by now that their defense needs another safety alongside Hamilton and Malaki Starks. Washington may be less expensive due to his injury history, but Gilman only earned a two-year, $10MM deal last offseason despite putting up career-highs in 2023. The mid-level safety market has not been especially strong in either years, so at least one of the two players should be affordable enough to keep. Retaining both, however, is probably not an option given the Ravens’ cap situation.
