Notre Dame Football: Kyle Hamilton a top-5 pick in 2022 NFL Mock Draft
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame Football program has been shut out of the first round the last two years, but that should change during the 2022 NFL Draft.
The 2021 Notre Dame Football team will have some elite talent on both sides of the ball, but none better than safety Kyle Hamilton. Widely regarded as one of the better defensive players in the country, Hamilton has been a playmaker for the Irish in their defensive backfield the past two seasons, establishing himself as a legitimate first-round talent.
In fact, not only is he a first-round talent, but he is a guy who could be selected early on in the first round come next April. He has the speed, size, and agility to be a standout player at the next level, and teams are not going to wait around to get him.
In fact, in a recent mock draft by Oliver Hodgkinson from Pro Football Network, the Irish safety does not have to wait long to hear his name called, as he is picked by the Cincinnati Bengals with the No. 5 overall pick. It is a great selection for the Bengals, who have gone offense the past two drafts in the first round, selecting Joe Burrow in 2019, and Ja’Marr Chase in 2020, so this time, they bolster the defense.
Notre Dame Football breaks two-year first-round hiatus
By selecting Hamilton with the No. 5 overall pick, the Bengals not only get an elite player for their secondary, but they also break a two-year streak for the Irish in not having a first-round pick. Last year, it was clear that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah should have been a first-round selection, but a heart issue detected during the draft process made him fall to the second round.
With that cleared up, you can expect JOK to be a standout player at the next level, and he could prove to be one of the steals of the 2021 NFL Draft. As long as everything checks out on Hamilton, he is going to go in the first round, and as this writer predicts, it won’t be long until he hears his name called.
We have already made it clear that the Irish should have a top-10 defense this season, and Hamilton is going to be a major part of that. Notre Dame football is trying to catch up to the elite programs in the country, and as long as they continue to trot out players like Hamilton, they will continue to move in that direction.