Tape Talk: Kyle Hamilton’s growth into a dynamic defensive chess piece

There’s never been more need for versatility at the linebacker and defensive back positions than in today’s league of high-powered, dynamic offenses.

One week, a team may face an opponent like the Detroit Lions, who can dominate on the ground with a fantastic offensive line and running back duo. Next, they may have to prepare for a team like the Miami Dolphins, with two number-one receivers who can score at any moment. Now more than ever, franchises are scouring the college ranks for modern second and third-level defenders who can cover elite receivers one play and defend the run the next.

This is easier said than done. Teams often compromise on players’ fatal flaws for their other above-average traits. Having true unicorns, players who can actually do it all, is a real advantage.

Enter Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, a versatile chesspiece quickly ascending into stardom as a premier player of a quality Ravens secondary. Now in his sophomore season and settling into defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald’s scheme, Hamilton is quickly becoming a franchise cornerstone for the Ravens and one of the most exciting young players in the NFL with his ability to play all over the secondary. In this week’s edition of Tape Talk, we’ll be talking all Kyle Hamilton, delving into his role in Mike MacDonald’s scheme, his strengths, and where he needs to improve to place himself in the elite tier of safeties.

A four-star recruit out of high school, Kyle Hamilton committed to Notre Dame at the end of his junior year and proceeded to dominate during his three-year college career, earning three All-American selections and finishing as a finalist for the Bednarik award (given to the best defensive player in the country), an incredible feat for a safety.

Here he is, flying across the field for a toe-tap interception during his junior season opener against Florida State.

Hamilton was projected as a top-five pick during most of the 2021 college football season, yet fell come draft time due to a subpar forty-yard dash during the combine (4.59, around 25th percentile for an NFL safety). He slid all the way to No. 14 until the Baltimore Ravens saw past the poor testing numbers and made him the highest-selected safety since Eric Berry (No. 5 overall in 2010).

Hamilton struggled at the beginning of his rookie year as he eased into defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald’s complex defense where he was asked to play everywhere in the backline, from nickel corner to free safety, to box safety and even some cornerback. But despite the challenging assignment Hamilton found his footing as the season progressed and finished as an integral part of the team, starting the Ravens’ final four games.

Hamilton has carried over his momentum from the end of the 2022 season, starting all twelve of the Ravens’ games so far while playing as the ultimate chess piece in Mike MacDonald’s defense – through twelve games, he’s been deployed as a deep safety both in single and two high coverages, leveraged the Hook, Curl, and Flat areas in zone, played as a man nickel corner, and even aligned as an extra defensive lineman off the edge on special packages. With his freak athletic ability and impressive intellect for a second-year player, Hamilton is a key reason why the Ravens’ defense can be as variable as Mike MacDonald wants it to be.

Here he is, for example, allowing the Ravens to run a wild inverted Cover 3. Hamilton rotates to be the post safety spot after lining up in the box pre-snap.

In both the run and pass games, Hamilton has been an integral piece in enabling the scheme of one of the NFL’s most creative defenses, yet he’s been at his best in coverage due to his phenomenal athletic ability. Contrary to what his 40-yard dash time would lead you to believe, Hamilton is an exceptional athlete and shows it on tape. At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds with a 79 3-4 inch wingspan (all near the 100th percentile for a safety), he’s built like a slimmer edge defender, yet moves like a defensive back with excellent foot quickness, long speed, and hip fluidity – a true defensive unicorn.

He’s exceptional in man coverage for a safety, able to blanket most tight ends and receivers from the slot due to his fluidity and length. Through twelve weeks, he ranks second among all safeties in yards allowed per target (2.4) and seventh in passer rating when targeted (45.8). Watch him erase one of the NFL’s most dominant receivers, Ja’Marr Chase, during Week 11′s Ravens vs. Bengals game, showing the quick mental processing to keep up with Chase’s route and the length to force the incompletion.

For a second-year player, he also flashes tremendous instincts in zone coverage, able to quickly discern passing concepts and anticipate the quarterback’s throwing option. On this third-quarter rep in the Week 7 Lions vs. Ravens game, watch how Hamilton reads Lions quarterback Jared Goff’s progressions for him and blankets his third option, helping cause a coverage sack.

Hamilton can neutralize most receivers in man and leverage his area in zone, yet what makes him most frightening is his tremendous range (a safety’s ability to cover ground). Hamilton may have run a 4.59 forty-yard dash, yet that looks like a 4.4 on tape. He can instantly cover the whole field from single and two-high shells due to his tremendous plant & drive (defensive back’s ability to hit the back of their drop when backpedaling and explode without false stepping) and long speed – watch how fast he covers ground in this second-quarter screen play of the Lions vs. Ravens game.

Regarding ball skills, Hamilton’s are solid, but not a true positive or negative. He shows the tracking and concentration necessary to pick off passes in front of him, but his body control is not elite to the point where he can make circus catches outside of his frame. He’s also solid after the catch, showing the ability to force incompletions with average play strength against smaller receivers and tight ends.

Hamilton’s fluidity, length, instincts and range make him a terrifying weapon in coverage, yet he still has some parts of his game to iron out before he can elevate his name into the elite safety conversation, particularly in run support and open-field tackling.

Hamilton is not a below-average run defender by any means. He does a tremendous job of disengaging from receiver blocks to erase screens when aligned as a nickel, and he typically fits his gap and brings down runners when deployed as a box safety due to his elite range. However, his angle processing and decision-making when deciding to commit on tackles is inconsistent when coming down from high alignments, resulting in a myriad of missed tackles and blown assignments – per pro football focus, Hamilton has missed 14.1% of his tackles, way above the 10.8% average for defensive backs.

Furthermore, I’d like to see Hamilton be more of an enforcer in the run game. On tape, it’s clear he makes his money as a finesse player. Like linebacker, however, the safety position requires constant physicality, and at times, it feels like Hamilton does not enforce and seek contact, but instead lets it come to him, particularly against the run.

Watch this effort in Week 8′s game against the Arizona Cardinals, for example. Rather than sinking his weight and engaging Cardinals running back Emari DeMercado at the point of attack, Hamilton lets the contact come to him, failing to generate knockback and enabling DeMercado to create a few extra yards after contact.

This is what most of Hamilton’s current run support efforts look like. But he also shows flashes of true dominance at the point of attack. Contrast that Cardinals clip with this run support rep in quarter three of Week 5′s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If Hamilton can show that level of confidence and physicality consistently in the run game while continuing to erase receivers and tight ends in coverage, we’ll be talking about a complete player at the safety position.

Overall, Hamilton has been having a phenomenal season on tape and is en route to becoming one of the NFL’s most dynamic and versatile safeties. He’s a near Pro-Bowl level starter who is strong in both man and zone coverage, where he can use his length, fluidity, movement skills, and instincts to erase most receivers and tight ends. This aligns with how the Ravens are currently using him — 33.1% and 38.5% free safety and slot alignment rates, respectively, suggest Mike MacDonald likes Hamilton best either deep, where he can use his elite range to mitigate plays in the back end, or as a nickel to erase slot threats with his sound coverage ability.

For Hamilton to become an elite player, I’d like to see him be more of an enforcer in the run game and improve his decision-making when open-field tackling. Ultimately, though, Hamilton’s phenomenal coverage skills already make him one of the scariest cover players in the NFL. Ask any defensive coordinator, and they’ll tell you that if you can use your safety or nickel like a starting cornerback, you’re in good shape. Look for Hamilton to continue to improve and cement himself as one of the league’s premier defensive players in the years to come.