As the Detroit Lions fill out their top-30 visits to complete the pre-draft process, Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton is coming to town.
The Detroit Lions have many options with the second overall pick in the draft. Among them, right or wrong and to the chagrin of some fans, Kyle Hamilton is among them. So as top-30 visits are filled out, it’s a foregone conclusion the Notre Dame safety would be paying a visit to Allen Park.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Hamilton is indeed coming to Detroit for a visit on Friday.
It’s a rare safety who gets drafted in the top-five of a draft, with three taken there since 1991 (Eric Turner–1991, Sean Taylor–2004 and Eric Berry–2010). The last one taken No. 2 overall was Turner, in 1991 to the Cleveland Browns. But many analysts regard Hamilton that highly, and there’s no denying the Lions need for an upgrade at safety alongside Tracy Walker.
If the Lions take Kyle Hamilton at No. 2, they better be right
Along the same line as if they take the leap and draft Liberty quarterback Malik Willis No. 2 overall, if the Lions take Hamilton with that pick they better be right. He’s considered a “unicorn” safety, at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds who can play all over field and take opposing tight ends out of the game.
Via Kyle Meinke of MLive, ESPN’s Mel Kiper talked about Hamilton during a recent conference call.
“He has really good instincts. He tackles well,” “The eight career interceptions, he missed seven games this past year, he would have probably had 10 career interceptions or more. He’s a guy — I think for the way the game is played today, he’s a guy defensive coordinators are going to really like.
Over three seasons at Notre Dame (31 games), Hamilton had 138 total tackles, eight interceptions and 16 pass breakups. His comp, via Player Profiler, is a fellow Notre Dame product–Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith.