Kyle Hamilton is out; what’s next for the Notre Dame defense at safety?
Notre Dame played three quarters without its best defensive player against USC. Now the Irish have to face at least four more quarters in the same situation.
Head coach Brian Kelly said junior safety Kyle Hamilton will not play against North Carolina (4-3) on Saturday because of the knee injury he sustained in the first quarter against the Trojans.
Kelly originally said Hamilton had an impinged fat pad in his knee. He sounded optimistic in his postgame press conference. It could be more serious, and Hamilton could miss more time. It's up in the air right now.
"I don't want to get into the specifics because there are a lot of moving pieces here," Kelly said. "I can tell you there is some confidence here we are going to have him back. Our medical people have done their due diligence. We'll make sure we give everybody a chance to weigh in on this matter, so there will be some further evaluations during the week."
Senior safety DJ Brown stepped in for Hamilton at free safety against USC and replaced him rather admirably. He tied for the team lead in tackles with seven. That's something he wouldn't have been capable of in previous seasons.
Going into the 2021 season, Brown had a career-high of three tackles in a single game. He's hit seven twice this season and eclipsed three on two other occasions despite being listed below Hamilton at free safety and senior Houston Griffith at strong safety on the depth chart.
"I think part of this is understanding the areas you have to work on, and his first area was he needed to be a great tackler," Kelly said. "And he's really a solid tackler now, whether it's on kickoff team or getting the ball down on the ground.
"He's not gifted like Kyle Hamilton where he can patrol the ball on the back end and go take the ball away. He's got to get the ball down on the ground, and I think he's really done a great job of shoring up that part of his game."
Notre Dame definitely loses the irreplaceable element of size and range with Hamilton going down. He's 6-4 and 220 pounds. Brown is 6-0 3/8 and 200 pounds.
Hamilton leads the team in interceptions with three and is tied for the team lead in passes defended with four. Brown likely isn't going to put up big numbers in either of those categories, but all Notre Dame needs him to do is be a reliable back line of defense against a North Carolina team that can burn defenses through the air.
The Tar Heels rank tied for seventh nationally in passing plays of 30-plus yards with 19. Junior quarterback Sam Howell and sophomore wide receiver Josh Downs have been a lethal combination this season. Downs ranks No. 5 in the country in receiving yards per game with 119.6.
Brown and Griffith played a lot together at the respective safety positions against North Carolina last year when Hamilton was ejected for targeting in the first half. They played a lot together last week against USC. Kelly is confident in that duo going forward.
As for the depth at those two spots? That's a different story.
"I think I stood up here Saturday night and said don't pencil in [Isaiah] Pryor at the safety position, but you might pencil in Pryor at the safety position after we met a little bit deeper on it," Kelly said.
Graduate student Isaiah Pryor played quite a bit of safety against USC in Notre Dame's dime defense. With Hamilton being out, Pryor enters the fold. Especially since Kelly was not ready to say who the backup free safety would be behind Brown for this week's two-deep.
"I think we need this week to sort that out," Kelly said.
Pryor doesn't project as a free safety considering his move to rover linebacker over the offseason. Notre Dame simply doesn't have many options left behind Brown at that spot. True freshman Justin Walters could be considered, but he's played in four games and would burn his redshirt if called upon in any more.
Junior KJ Wallace played two snaps at strong safety early in the season, but he has not placed a defensive snap since getting beat for a touchdown against Toledo in week two. Junior safety Litchfield Ajavon hasn't been able to work his way into a situation where he'll see the field either.
Sophomore defensive back Ramon Henderson played a season-high 41 snaps against USC. That was a product of the Irish switching to a dime base, but he could be versatile enough to get some snaps at free safety. Per Pro Football Focus, Henderson has played 19 snaps there so far this season.
Does wide receiver turned rover linebacker turned nickel safety Xavier Watts, a sophomore, fit into the fold somehow? If he’s athletic enough to play all those positions, maybe Kelly and defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman give him a look at free safety.
Everything goes back to Brown, though. He's going to have to be the workhorse Hamilton was at free safety, even if he's not playing at the same level. There is only one Kyle Hamilton in college football anyway. As cliche as it sounds, this truly is a next man up situation for the Irish.
Brown is that next man.
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