One thing that has always confused me was the complete and total lack of respect for the safety position. The safety is your last line of defense. The safety has to be able to tackle like a linebacker, cover like a corner, and track a ball like Ken Griffey Jr. A great safety can change the entire complexion of a defense.
Malcolm Jenkins turned the tide of Super Bowl 52 for the Eagles when he laid a punishing hit on Brandin Cooks.
Brian Dawkins was the identity of a defense that propelled the Eagles to 4 straight NFC title games and a Super Bowl birth.
Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed were focal points in the defenses that brought titles to Pittsburgh and Baltimore respectively.
Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor set the tone in the secondary allowing Richard Sherman to jump routes and Bobby Wagner to read and react freely.
Yet, the linchpin of many great defenses, often gets overlooked and undervalued when it comes to free agency and the NFL Draft.
Safeties have the 2nd lowest average annual salary among all of the non-special teams staters.
Only two safeties have been taken inside of the top five (Eric Berry, 2010 and Sean Taylor, 2004) in the last 30 years. Only one safety has ever been a top three selection (Eric Turner, 1991).
This year a very special talent at the safety position is hoping to break that trend. A guy I have ranked above Aidan Hutchinson, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal. That man is Kyle Hamilton; and he is the definition of a game changer.
Kyle Hamilton
Safety
Junior
Notre Dame
6’4 220lbs
Bio
Kyle Hamilton was born in Greece. The son of a pro basketball player Derrick Hamilton. After Derricks playing career was over, the family moved back to the states settling in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kyle was a phenomenal two sport athlete for Marist School earning D1 offers for basketball as well as football. He played all over the football field as a receiver, safety and Lunt returner. While he was a good wide receiver, where he really stood out was at the safety position. With his 6’3 frame and thick build, he was an imposing force on the back end of that Marist defense. His basketball pedigree also gave him great lateral quickness and an impressive vertical.
Kyle is also very impressive in the class room. He is a member of Mensa International. Proving that there is plenty of brains behind the brawn. His intelligence is evident on the field as a field general.
For his athletic and academic efforts he was showered with scholarship offers. Football powerhouses such as Michigan, Georgia, Florida State and Clemson all courted Hamilton; as well as prestigious academic universities such as Princeton, Northwestern and Duke. Try as they may, his commitment to Notre Dame was never really in doubt.
Hamilton was named an All-American in 2019 and was a finalist for the National Defensive Player of the Year. After a decorated high school career he took his talents to South Bend and took off immediately.
Playing in all thirteen games as a true freshman Hamilton totaled 41 total tackles, 6 pass deflections, and 4 interceptions; taking one of them home for a touchdown.
He didn’t slow down much in his next two seasons, despite playing in only 18 games. Between his pandemic shortened sophomore year and an injury opt out midway through his junior year, Hamilton racked up another 97 tackles, 4 interceptions and 10 pass deflections.
While he was ranked at or near the top of most big boards. One game this season put even casual fans on notice. On opening night against Florida State he had six tackles and two interceptions, the second of which is one of the most athletic plays you will ever watch.
Now Hamilton finds himself as not only the best safety in his class, but the best safety prospect in nearly a decade; and maybe the best safety prospect ever. His combination of coverage skills, ball skills, athleticism and physicality have put him at the top of my big board.
Strengths
Physique
You don’t see many safeties built like Hamilton. We will find out his exact size at the combine next month. But Notre Dame has him listed at 6’4 220lbs. His long arms and indomitable height gives him tremendous range for batting down balls. His sturdy build makes him a formidable presence coming downhill to attack the ball carrier.
Athleticism
Hamilton’s body type alone is intimidating. When you couple that with a reported 40 inch vertical and sub-4.5 40 yard dash, you have a unicorn type athlete.
Versatility
In the aforementioned Florida State game earlier this season Hamilton played on punt coverage as a gunner, at nickel, in the box as an extra linebacker, and in center field. He is every bit as good manning up on a tight end as he is patrolling the back half of the field in cover 1.
Tackling
As the game of football becomes more pass happy, safeties are becoming less and less a part of defending the run. While for the most part, the days of Brian Dawkins and Troy Polamalu lining up running backs for big open field hits are over; Hamilton is the exception. He can lay the boom on anyone crossing his face mask, and he is as sure of a tackler as anyone in the nation.
Ball Skills
Hamilton is a ball hawk. When he over the top in cover 1 or cover 2 no deep ball is safe. He has an uncanny nose for the ball. Covering huge amounts of ground in the blink of an eye, contesting or intercepting passes with ease.
Weaknesses
Aggression
While you certainly want your defenders to have a mean streak, Hamilton can be hyper aggressive at times. He will occasionally get caught with his hand in the cookie jar on RPOs biting on the run. When you have his athleticism at the college level, you can make up for a bad read; that may get him beat in the NFL.
Fluidity
While Hamilton can seemingly do it all on the field, he does run into trouble against twitchier receivers. He can run stride for stride with almost any receiver on the field, but doesn’t have the most fluid hips. He could be troubled by excellent route runners if he gets caught in one on one coverage.
Draft Projection
While Hamilton is my number one prospect , the odds of him going number one are about the same as me having my name called during the draft. With a bevy of top flight edge defenders, corners and offensive lineman, Hamilton may slip out of the top five; but I don’t see him falling much further than pick 10.