Kyle Hamilton profile: Why the Baltimore Ravens drafted the Safety in the NFL Draft
With the 14th overall pick in the 1st round, the Baltimore Ravens selected Kyle Hamilton. Here’s what we know about the player.
Kyle Hamilton, Strengths
This was the number five safety of the 2018 recruiting class. At 6’4” and 220 pounds, he was redshirted. Following this, Hamilton intercepted four passes, of which he took one back to the house. He then broke up another six, making him a Freshman All-American.
In 2020, his pick-total went down to just one, but he still recorded six PBUs and improved quite a bit. He was more involved near the line of scrimmage with 51 solo tackles, 4.5 for loss. His final season was cut short after seven games due to a knee injury, but not before picking off three passes, breaking up another seven and getting a couple of TFLs, leading to back-to-back first-team All-American selections.
Hamilton was clearly the second-best player on that Irish defense behind only Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in 2020. He excelled at flying around and constantly found himself around the football. Last year, he was the star of the show when he was available. He presents a legitimate 6’4”, 220-pound frame, along with 33-inch arms and about an 80-inch wingspan, which is unique for any safety.
Hamilton is a heat-seeking missile racing up the alley. Running jet sweeps or end-arounds his way when he can trigger down is almost impossible. He has an impressive ability to almost make receivers miss, who are trying to shield him on screens. If they do manage to get in front of him, he can effectively swipe down their hands to keep his frame clean.
As a single-high safety, he does an outstanding job of gaining ground, but staying parallel to the line of scrimmage and executing secure breakdown tackles. He makes good use of the sideline and leverages the ball exceptionally well, according to his position on the field and the teammates around him.
He is impressive at aiming low as a tackler despite his height and is very effective at doing so, wrapping around the legs of ball-carriers, driving through contact and twisting them down. You see quite a few runs that look like potential breakaways and he’s the last line of defense, but fhe inds a way to limit them to minimal yards. In 2021, Hamilton missed just two of 32 tackle attempts.
He’s a very instinctive player, who lets his eyes take him to the ball. Hamilton has such a closing burst that he can stay balanced as patterns develop and then just turn on the jets and crowd the catch point, where his length and size are a major plus.
He had a couple of interceptions in the 2021 season-opener against Florida State, including an incredible one on the sideline, coming all the way from the opposite hash. He can play in-between routes and drift towards one target initially, before he sees the quarterback progress off it and get underneath the higher stretch of the pattern.
As a robber, you see him sitting on one hash and a hook route being thrown in-between those and Hamilton gets there just as the ball arrives there. His length is a serious tool, where he’s kind of playing in-between routes and can disrupt the catch point for somebody on the sideline.
Last season, he spent just over half of his snaps in the slot last season (227), a quarter of those as a deep safety and a little less than that in the box. He would match tight-ends a lot, where his length to disrupt guys off the line, his ability to hang down the seams and the size to not be taken advantage on make him a brilliant projection for that type of role.
The same is true for big-bodied, more possession-oriented receivers, particularly rolling his hips against inside breaks, where he doesn’t overreact to how vertical routes are stemmed and attaches to the man’s hip pocket quickly.
For his career, Hamilton has been responsible for just 39 completions on 82 targets for 388 yards and one touchdown, while intercepting eight passes himself. Altogether, that results in a passer rating allowed of 25.9 when targeted. That is the lowest among FBS safeties over that time-span. And of course, his reliable tackling skills, particularly working up from depth, is key in the pass game as well.
Kyle Hamilton, Weaknesses
There isn’t a whole lot to criticize about Hamilton in the run support, he has to be a little careful as a runner due to his height. He has come in high on numerous occasions and been flagged for it at times.
Playing man against slot receivers, having to turn and run from the slot when not being able to slow them down with his hands was challenging, along with not having great hand-eye coordination to locate the ball at the end.
Hamilton’s range at this point is kind of overrated, based on that pick he had against Florida State. If he has to bail into two-deep shells or rotate into the deep middle, he can drift into space, where the ball is clearly being handed off or flicked out on quick passes already. Hamilton is kind of a straight-line athlete, without great flexibility to adjust his path
Conclusion
Hamilton is an elite prospect in regards to the other options at the position. While he is the SAF1, his tape is a little underwhelming.
With a player that is pretty much linebacker size, but having played deep a lot, position fit is always a big question. That can be looked at as a positive for sure, but there are some concerns about his profile. He was tied for the worst 40 among safeties at 4.59 (although he was weaving sideways way too much). That 38-inch vert and 10’11” broad jump, plus him having clocked in at 21 MPH on the GPS before (according to Bruce Feldman), leaves no concerns about that part of his game and he's the best all-round run-defending safety in the class, in terms of his deployment in coverage, he may offer too much of a narrow skill-set.
The Ravens have a tremendous history with defensive players and they have got themselves a potential game changer in Hamilton.
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