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Name: Kyle Hamilton
School: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Position: S/Box Safety
Height: 6-4
Weight: 220
Year: Junior
Jersey Number: 14
Defensive Scheme: Cover 1, Cover 3
Defensive Coordinator: Marcus Freeman
Games Reviewed: Clemson 2020, Purdue 2021, Florida State 2021, Cincinnati 2021
Position Specific Critical Factors
Three Level Ability (9) Elite
Can the player contribute at ALL 3 levels of the defense? Short, intermediate, and deep. Playing with the "sufficient" skills at all levels?
Instincts/Awareness (8) Near Elite
Innate feel for the position. Ability to anticipate and diagnose a play before it happens. Ability to make smart decisions and anticipate. Is he a step ahead of the play? Can he find the ball; read the QB? Can he process info quickly; read route combinations/alignments? Mental or reaction quickness to blocking schemes and play flow. Play with correct leverage. Take the right angles in reaction to the play and blocking pressure. Key and diagnose plays, intelligence, field vision.
Overall Football Speed, Reactive Quickness (9) Near Elite
Ability to play with speed for his position in games with pads on NOT 40 speed. Range, close and overall tempo.
Key Strengths
Range
Run Defense
Versatility at All Levels
Key Weaknesses
Aggressiveness
Knee Injury/Not Considered Serious
Pass Game Summary
Kyle Hamilton possesses elite range covering a lot of grass in a hurry. His play recognition and instincts combined with his freakish speed and athleticism at 6-4 220lbs are not of this world. He can play the post safety position or come down into the slot or the box. His athleticism allows him to cover slot receivers, TE's and backs out of the backfield or flexed out wide. His ball skills are high level; he can track and locate the football and make a play in coverage with the same type of flexibility you see from a smaller cover corner. He can be an asset in one high man to man or cover three-zone style defense. He does not appear to have any stylistic limitations.
Run Game Summary
In the run game, Hamilton can fit the run like a LB, and he can do that from depth, in the box, or the nickel. His speed and athleticism, combined with excellent open-field tackling, are already a great fit for the NFL.
Final Analysis
A dynamic athlete that excels at every sport he has ever played. Hamilton received a basketball scholarship at the age of 15. His athletic acumen stretches further; Hamilton tried out for Lacrosse, having never played the sport in high school where he would make the team and get significant playing time. According to his brother Tyler, Kyle is also an excellent golfer who can hit a two-iron nearly 300 yards.
The Hamilton bloodlines are tried and true. His mother, Jackie, who excelled academically and as an artist before becoming an HR manager for a marketing firm, mentioned in an interview referenced on the ND Insider website that Kyle is a Mensa member.
The Mensa organization recognizes people who score within the upper two percent of an approved intelligence test. Kyle backed up his Mensa bona fides by scoring a 30 on his ACT. Hamiltons father was a star basketball player at the University of Southern Mississippi, a third-round pick in the 1988 NBA Draft, and a professional basketball player overseas for more than a decade.
As a football player, Hamilton is long and rangy safety who possesses outstanding speed for a player who stands at 6-4, 220lbs. He has excellent on-field awareness, playing with great instincts. According to his former trainer, in Atlanta, at the age of 18, Hamilton registered a 40-inch vertical, and he jumped free-standing (no approach step) a 55-inch box jump.
Hamilton provides incredible range covering a lot of grass in a hurry; he is a good tackler in space and offers excellent three-level support. He is a lengthy, physical player who provides a positionless chess piece at the NFL level.
Final Grade Analysis
Final Grade: (7.8) (Instant Impact Potential)
(9.0-7.0) High-End Starter
Ceiling Grade: (9.0) (Instant Impact Potential)
(9.0-7.0) High-End Starter
Floor Grade: (6.9) (Instant Impact Potential)
(9.0-7.0) High-End Starter