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Throughout the offseason, we’ve been under the assumption the Washington Commanders would go with an offensive player with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
However, recent reports have some believing Washington would have difficulty passing up Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton if he were to slip outside of the top 10. Once Washington traded for quarterback Carson Wentz, many penciled in a wide receiver for the Commanders.
Not so fast.
In a new NFL.com expert live mock draft in which Daniel Jeremiah, Bucky Brooks, Colleen Wolfe and Rhett Lewis take turns making picks for making selections, Brooks makes the pick for Washington at No. 11.
His pick? Hamilton.
Wolfe asked Brooks if he was going to go wide receiver for Wentz, and Brooks cracked:
“Wide receiver, oh no, I’m not sure if he (Wentz) would hit him anyway,” he answered. Ouch.
“I am going to go and get someone on defense because we got to make sure we gotta play great defense. Let’s go Kyle Hamilton. He was outside the top 10, I am at No. 11, so I am going to take him. Remember, this is a guy who always wanted to be Sean Taylor coming up. He doesn’t necessarily give them exactly what Sean Taylor did, but he certainly will be the best safety we’ve seen play there in years. Jack Del Rio, Ron Rivera have a lot of fun finding ways to keep Kyle Hamilton in the mix.”
We’ve certainly heard plenty of young safeties say they want to be the next Taylor. No one is the next Taylor. However, Hamilton is arguably the best safety prospect coming out in years and could be a dynamic defensive weapon if Washington coaches employ him properly.