Notre Dame loses talent in the secondary in 2020 as Alohi Gilman has entered the NFL Draft while Donte Vaughn and Troy Pride, Jr. are both out of eligibility.
Earlier this month Shaun Crawford announced he’d be returning for a sixth season at Notre Dame which will be incredibly beneficial for the Irish as long as Crawford can stay healthy.
What will also help is Kyle Hamilton returning after a freshman year that landed him on both the Pro Football Focus and FWAA Freshman All-American Teams.
PFF released their “Top 30 Returning Defensive Backs” Saturday and Hamilton found a spot at number 20 there.
True freshman safety Kyle Hamilton could not have done much more in coverage for the Fighting Irish this year. The 6-foot-4 defensive back finished among the five best safeties in the country in PFF coverage grade and had more interceptions plus pass breakups (nine) than catches allowed (seven). That production paved the way to just a 1.3 passer rating allowed. He read quarterbacks like books and made special plays all year long — he’ll be a vital piece to the Irish secondary over the next couple of seasons.
If you rank only safeties then Hamilton comes in fifth.
Although the eventual starting defensive backfield won’t have much experience playing together, the likes of Hamilton, Crawford, transfer Isaiah Pryor create a pretty high floor.
Now to the question some may be asking: is Hamilton really a top-five safety?
Frankly, five seems a bit low for a guy who it was newsworthy to pull in a reception against in 2020.