Todd McShay goes all-in on Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton ahead of 2022 NFL Draft

Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton has been viewed as one of the top prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft class for some time. Even with some injuries throughout the last year, Hamilton remains as one of the top players on the board. ESPN’s Todd McShay is all in on Hamilton, and he has him going third overall to the Houston Texans in his mock draft 2.0. Hamilton is McShay’s only projected first round safety.

“Number three, I’ve got Kyle Hamilton, safety from Notre Dame,” McShay said. “You might say it’s a little bit high, he had an injury, yeah I get it. But this guy is a freak. You don’t see many guys at safety with this length, and the range and the ball skills that he has. Eight interceptions since 2019. You look at the Texans, they could go in a different direction. Could be offensive line, could be pass rusher. They’re losing Justin Reid. I think Nick Caserio is going to look for a foundation piece, and Hamilton should be that.”

In three years at Notre Dame, Hamilton established himself as one of the top all-around defensive backs in college football. He racked up 138 total tackles in his collegiate career, adding 7.5 tackles for loss, eight interceptions, and 16 passes defended. This past season, Hamilton was limited to seven games, but he still had 34 tackles with two tackles for loss, three interceptions, and four passes defended.

Hamilton to Houston is part of a revamped top ten in McShay’s latest mock draft

While some experts have projected a little bit of a fall to the later portions of the top ten during the draft cycle, Hamilton remains as a premier prospect in McShay’s eyes. He is the second defensive player off of the board, behind Michigan edge Aidan Hutchinson, who went No. 2 to the Lions. The Jaguars took Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal first overall. The rest of McShay’s top ten featured many surprises behind Hamilton, too.

NC State offensive lineman Ikem Ekwonu goes fourth to the Jets, and the Giants took Oregon EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux at five. The Panthers selected Cincinnati cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner at six, while the Giants used their second first rounder at seventh overall on Mississippi State offensive tackle Charles Cross. USC receiver Drake London went eight to the Falcons, Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd went ninth to the Broncos, and the Jets rounded out the top ten by selecting LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.