Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton, Cain Madden Earn Preseason PFF All-America Nods
Only 27 college football players in the country can say they are Pro Football Focus Preseason First-Team All-Americans. Two of them play for Notre Dame.
PFF named senior offensive guard Cain Madden and junior safety Kyle Hamilton first-team All-America selections. Senior Jarrett Patterson was the only other Irish representative on the list as a third-team center.
Madden transferred to Notre Dame in early June after starting for three years at Marshall. Madden had the best PFF run-blocking grade of any guard in the country at 93.0, nearly five points higher than anyone else in the Football Bowl Subdivision. He also did not allow a single sack in nine games.
The 6-4, 221-pound Hamilton emerged as one of Notre Dame’s best defensive players in 2020. He has five interceptions and 12 pass breakups in his career. He led Notre Dame with 63 total tackles last season, one more than Butkus Award winner Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.
"He is one of the most explosive safeties in the game," PFF wrote of Hamilton. "His 42-inch vertical may have helped land him on Bruce Feldman’s 2020 Freaks List, but he also pairs his physical skill set with great eyes in coverage, making him a certified playmaker."
Patterson is Notre Dame’s only returning offensive lineman. He has 21 starts in his Irish career, but he missed the final four games — including the ACC Championship Game against Clemson and the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Alabama — with a left foot injury.
Patterson is expected to move from center to another position on the line and give way to junior Zeke Correll as the man in the middle. Correll started all four games Patterson missed last fall and practiced as the starting center throughout the spring.
Notable players from Notre Dame’s 2021 opponents also made PFF’s All-America teams. North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell was listed as the second-team QB behind Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler. Howell has thrown for more than 3,500 yards and 30-plus touchdowns in each of the last two seasons with only seven interceptions in each year. The Irish host the Tar Heels on Oct. 30.
Purdue wide receiver David Bell made the third team. Bell had 53 catches for 625 yards and eight touchdowns in sic games as a sophomore last year. Notre Dame hosts the Boilermakers on Sept. 18.
Cincinnati defensive end Myjai Sanders also made the third team while teammate Sauce Gardner, a junior cornerback, was a first-team selection. Sanders had 10.5 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks and 5.0 pass breakups in 10 games as a junior.
Gardner has not allowed a touchdown pass against him in two seasons at Cincinnati. Opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating of 35.3 on throws in which Gardner is the primary cover man. Incompletions on every play would yield a passer rating of 39.6. Gardner and the Bearcats visit Notre Dame Stadium Oct. 2.
USC punter Ben Griffiths rounds out the first through third team players Notre Dame will match up against this fall. Griffiths booted the ball five times for an average of 42.2 yards against the Irish in 2019.
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