There are many traits that make up a good football player, with some of them standing out like a sore thumb. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic has come up with his Freaks List for the 2020 season and there were two members of the Notre Dame Football team honored (subscription needed).
Sophomore safety Kyle Hamilton impressed Feldman enough to rank 9th on his list, with his freakiest attribute being his vertical leap. What is interesting is that Feldman found out that “Hamilton is up 20 pounds since last year to 221.” That is a huge safety, who according to Feldman, his top speed last year was almost 21 MPH. Think about that, a human running 20 miles an hour. Go get in your car and get up to 20 MPH, stick your head out the window. That’s damn fast.
Back to his freakiest trait, Hamilton’s vertical which is 42.3 inches, that’s over 3-and-a-half feet! Compare that to the best of the 2020 NFL Combine, Hamilton would have been second among everyone according to Pro Football Reference’s combine results. Michigan’s Donovan Peoples-Jones led everyone with a vertical leap of 44.5 inches, but Hamilton would have led the secondary as Louisiana Tech’s L’Jarius Sneed led there with a 41-inch vertical. The rising star was named to the Bednarik Award watch list but got snubbed for the Thorpe Award (the best defensive back), something that I believe they will regret by the end of the season.
The other Irish star that was on Feldman’s list was linebacker Jeremiah Osuwu-Koramoah and this shouldn’t come as a surprise either. What stood out to Feldham was JOK’s explosiveness, which has been something the linebacker has worked very hard for. JOK finally cracked the lineup last year and make a huge splash, leading the team in tackles while notching 5.5 sacks. Those traits helped JOK get into the backfield and wreak havoc on opposing offenses.
You wouldn’t expect a linebacker to have the testing numbers that JOK has, registering a “39-inch vertical jump, 10-3 broad jump and an equally impressive 20.4 MPH on his GPS. Owusu-Koramoah also notched 42 pull-ups in off-season training and back squatted 555 pounds.” The last number stands out the most, as squats show power and 555 pounds is no joke.
It’s nice to see both of them making Feldman’s list, as the hype continues to build for both of these Irish star defenders. Both Hamilton and Owusu-Koramoah use their abilities and have translated them into big time production on the field. It will be a joy to watch both of them get after offenses this coming season.