When Kyle Hamilton first verbally committed to play football at Notre Dame, the recruiting industry had branded him a three-star prospect, an endorsement of doubt in a sense of lower ceiling or a flaw or unfinished business at the high school level.
Hamilton, who eventually rose to consensus elite status by the time his 2019 recruiting cycle was complete, was never put in the box again until he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.59 seconds in early March at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
It was a number that contradicted the game tape he’d produced over 31 games and 18 starts in three seasons at Notre Dame.
Thursday night an NFL team was going to answer the question of how much that mortal 40 time mattered, and whether Hamilton was just another really good safety or — at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds — a unicorn.
The Baltimore Ravens, with the 14th pick of the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, indicated it believed the latter, though not as emphatically as originally thught. Hamilton fell out of the top 10 — his widely projected landing spot until the combine performance.
Still, he becomes the 70th first-rounder in Notre Dame history and the 521st draft pick all time — most of any college team. He's also the highest-drafted Notre Dame defensive player since Hall of Fame defensive tackle Bryant Young in 1994 (seventh).
"It’s crazy. It doesn’t seem real," Hamilton said. "I just want to thank (the Ravens) for taking a chance on me. I’m excited to get to work.
"I just hope to keep the tradition going. They already have a great team. I just want to add to the defense and do what I can."
The last Notre Dame safety selected in the first round was perennial All-Pro Harrison Smith by the Minnesota Vikings 10 years ago. Of the 21 players who left Notre Dame after their junior years, Hamilton became just the fourth of them to be selected in the first round.
Hamilton and his family made the trip to Las Vegas to take in the draft’s first round live and in person. So did Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and ND safeties coach Chris O'Leary.
As many as five and as few as three Irish players are expected to be selected before the three-day, seven-round draft comes to an end sometime on Saturday with pick No. 262.
Rounds 2-3 unfold Friday night, beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. Rounds 4-7 follow on Saturday, beginning at noon. ABC, ESPN and NFL Network will televise all seven rounds.
Hamilton, a member of Mensa with a genius IQ, didn’t let the pre-draft doubts faze him, the same way he responded to his temporary three-star status while playing at the Marist School with a shrug.
“I kind of liked when I was a three-star,” Hamilton said a couple of weeks before enrolling at ND in June of 2019. “It didn’t change my goals or who I was or who I wanted to be.”
He went on to become a two-time All-American for the Irish, including a first-teamer by the FWAA and AFCA, despite missing five regular-season games with a knee injury and the opting out of the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl.
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