Horka: Notre Dame’s Blake Fisher, Kyle Hamilton should sit out rest of 2021
Maybe things would be different if Notre Dame was undefeated and in a better position to contend for the College Football Playoff. Maybe that loss to Cincinnati changed not just the outlook for the rest of the Fighting Irish’s season but the outlook of two of its best players on either side of the ball, too.
Freshman left tackle Blake Fisher hasn’t played a snap since the first half of the season opener against Florida State. He had surgery for a torn meniscus in early September and has been zealously rehabilitating his ailing knee ever since.
Junior safety Kyle Hamilton suffered a knee injury of his own in the first quarter of the USC game Oct. 23. He missed the North Carolina game the following week and didn’t play against Navy the week after that. He might be out against Virginia this week. Head coach Brian Kelly has not offered an official diagnosis of Hamilton’s knee injury to reporters, but missing three games in a row certainly wouldn't be promising.
Kelly has been optimistic about both players’ futures, but that doesn’t change this premise: it would be wise for both Fisher and Hamilton to sit out the rest of the season, even if their services could be utilized by Notre Dame in games of significance during the remainder of the 2021 season.
Fisher has the rest of his collegiate career to think about. Hamilton has the 2022 NFL Draft on his mind. Why jeopardize those things for a team that was No. 10 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season and No. 9 in the second? This is a team that needs to win the rest of its games and needs a whole lot of help to shake up the standings just to sniff a top four spot.
Fisher essentially has a starting role on the Notre Dame offensive line solidified for at least the next two seasons. He doesn’t need to come back this year to prove anything to anyone. He proved himself in fall camp, won the left tackle job and only had it taken away because of injury. He’ll get it right back next year.
The Notre Dame offensive line has rounded into form without Fisher anyway. Freshman Joe Alt has been a revelation at left tackle. Graduate student Josh Lugg has been steady at right tackle. If Fisher is healthy and cleared this month, which one of those two guys is he replacing? The answer should be neither. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The situation isn’t as clear cut with Hamilton. As serviceable (and slightly better than that at times) as senior DJ Brown has been at free safety, Hamilton would be a lot better. That’s not breaking news. He’s a lot better than every free safety in the country, not just the ones on his own team. Of course Kelly would want him to play if he fully heals his knee in time. But Kelly would understand if Hamilton decided not to as well.
ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. recently rated Hamilton as the No. 2 overall 2022 NFL Draft prospect. Hamilton doesn’t have to play another snap in a Notre Dame uniform. He has done what he’s needed to do to make first-round money. Maybe even top-five money.
What if he rushed a comeback and aggravated the injury to the point of needing surgery to repair it? He might not fully fall out of the first round, but it could be a matter of going from top five or 10 overall to barely hearing his name called on the first night of the draft. That’s a headache that could be avoided by sitting out the rest of his junior season at Notre Dame.
“Those aren’t easy decisions,” Kelly said Nov. 1. “He will lean on his family. We have an outside source we bring in that evaluates all of our players. He has a chance to listen to all of that information.
“Kyle will make the right decision for what’s right for him. We’re assuming everything goes right with his knee. If that’s the case, he will have all the information in front of him. We’ll support him 100 percent, whatever it is.”
All that, for this: Kelly also said he expects Hamilton to play in a gold helmet again this season. Obviously, most Notre Dame fans do, too. Especially if somehow Notre Dame sneaks into the playoff. Then, and only then, should Hamilton consider giving it one more go for the Fighting Irish.
Kelly and the fans don’t have to weigh the NFL Draft. It’s an easy choice for them: just play. They want to see the best player on this roster in their school colors a few more times, and that’s understandable.
But if they don’t get that chance, the least they could do is understand the other side of this. Kelly already said he would. So they should, too.
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