After he was a consensus All-American at Notre Dame last year, there is no question that safety Kyle Hamilton is one of the best players available in the 2022 NFL Draft. But as a safety, will Hamilton be worthy of a top-5 pick? More importantly, will he be able to live up to the hype and grow into one of the NFL’s best defensive backs.
College Career
As the son of a pro basketball player, Hamilton had a unique upbringing. He was born in Greece and briefly lived in Russia before settling in the Atlanta area. That path eventually led him to Notre Dame, where he only stayed for three years. Hamilton played primarily as a backup during his freshman season but moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore, earning First-Team All-ACC honors with the Fighting Irish spending the 2020 season as a temporary member of the ACC.
Unfortunately, Hamilton’s junior season was ended early by a knee injury, limiting him to just seven games. However, playing in only seven games didn’t stop Hamilton from being named an All-American.
Pros
The first thing that stands out about Hamilton is his size at 6’4’’ and 220 pounds. That size combined with his athleticism allows Hamilton to cover a lot of ground in the secondary. He also has the ability to play as an outside linebacker and even a cornerback on occasion, making him a versatile safety. Hamilton’s size also makes him a physical player who is usually a sure tackle against both receivers in the secondary and in the running game.
However, the thing that could make Hamilton an elite NFL safety is his football IQ. He has excellent pre-snap awareness, which is key for deep safeties, and also has a knack for reading the play and making good decisions that help him end up close to the ball on every play.
Cons
While Hamilton looks like a talented and well-rounded safety, there are some concerns that could hurt his draft stock. As mentioned, he hurt his knee last season, meaning he only has a season and a half of experience as a starter. Likewise, his stats don’t stand out on paper even though he has the right combination of size and athleticism.
Hamilton also put in a disappointing performance at the NFL Combine, most notably his 40-yard dash time of 4.59 seconds, which was much slower than expected. That could lead some teams to think that he’s almost too big to be a safety in the NFL while not necessarily having the profile of a linebacker, making him a tweener.
Projection
Despite a few questions about Hamilton because of his injury last season and his 40-time at the Combine, there is no doubt that he has a high ceiling. His combination of size, athleticism, and football IQ gives him the potential to become one of the best safeties in the NFL.
Whether he can fulfill that promise is another question, but there is too much to like about him to ignore. Since he doesn’t play a premium position, he may not be drafted as high as perhaps his talent dictates. In any event, it would be surprising to see Hamilton fall outside of the top-10 in the 2022 NFL Draft.