Unlisted – Kyle Hamilton, Safety, Notre Dame
Despite being seen by many Notre Dame observers as the best player on the Fighting Irish, Kyle Hamilton didn’t make the CFN list.
One guess why is just how loaded the safety position is in college football as Andre Cisco (Syracuse), Hamsah Nasirildeen (Florida State) and Richard LeCourte (Georgia) all checked in the top 21 on this list.
Each have higher career totals in interceptions and tackles than Hamilton, although you seemingly can’t throw towards Hamilton and expect a pass to be completed.
Hamilton only being a sophomore compared to those three being seniors I’m sure didn’t help his case. I’m not saying I agree with that but remember, this is the sport that didn’t see a sophomore win the Heisman Trophy until Tim Tebow finally did in 2007.
The fact of the matter is Kyle Hamilton is about as good at safety as you’ll find in college football. More will certainly be asked of him by Notre Dame in 2020 but there certainly aren’t any other underclassmen safeties you want to have to take on that task more than Hamilton.
I’m not worried about Hamilton not being on this list. OK, so he didn’t make it in the pre-season. Oh well.
If there is a similar list done post-2020 I’d fully expect to see him not only ranked, but ranked fairly highly.