Word is that Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton’s stock might be falling into the second half of the first round, which could put him in range for the Kansas City Chiefs.
For the last several weeks and months, Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton has been considered one of the very best and safest overall prospects in this year’s draft class. For a rookie pool that lacks can’t-miss talent, Hamilton has been the exception, the defensive back who could make the sort of impact that could force a team to forgo positional value at the top of the draft in order to select him.
It’s funny how things change when the draft winds start to blow.
These days, Hamilton’s stock appears to be in a freefall. Per Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline, Hamilton is a player whose stock is shifting in the wrong direction at the wrong time. Over the weekend, Pauline released his latest draft rumors and notes of what he’s hearing:
"And while some players are rising, Kyle Hamilton continues to fall. Many in the league tell me they think Hamilton ends up somewhere between picks 15 to 20. That’s still later than I expected and is a precipitous drop for a prospect still graded by some as the top player in this draft."
Hamilton hasn’t been a subject of conversation for Chiefs Kingdom for the entirety of the pre-draft process because of the commonly held belief that he would be long gone before general manager Brett Veach would ever be on the clock. Even if the Chiefs package both first-round picks, the trade value chart only gets them to right around picks 10-12. Fans haven’t discussed Hamilton’s stock or fit with K.C. because it made no sense to waste time—for the same reason no one talks Evan Neal or Aidan Hutchinson or Sauce Gardner.
If, however, Hamilton is even a remote possibility to land at No. 15 or even 20 (which seems crazy), then he must be included in the conversation of what the Chiefs should do. After all, it’s not often that the team will have a chance to grab someone with that sort of floor and ceiling in the draft going forward while consistently picking at the end of each round.
If the Chiefs want a high-ceiling player, they’re often linked to currently injured guys like pass rusher David Ojabo from Michigan or maybe a trade-up for wide receiver Jameson Williams of Alabama. For the Chiefs to have a chance for those kinds of guys, as a contending team, the draft selection must have some present issue (injury, poor interviews, character flaw, one-year wonder). But if Hamilton just falls, it’s a brass ring sort of moment for the team.
The Chiefs have a solid pair of safeties ready to suit up and take the starter’s reps in 2022 and no one should forget that. Juan Thornhill and Justin Reid should hold things down just fine in the secondary. That said, this is a unit that lost the leadership of Tyrann Mathieu and the production of Charvarius Ward in a single offseason and it was already a defensive backfield experiencing the slow drip of losing starters every offseason.
The introduction of Hamilton to the back end of the Chiefs’ defense would provide the sort of home-run hitter currently missing in the entire unit. Again, the Chiefs have solid performers there already and L’Jarius Sneed is a name worth mentioning as a potential Pro Bowler in years to come, but Hamilton as a Swiss Army defender who could play alongside these players and add high-floor/high-ceiling production is worth consideration.
If Hamilton begins to fall, it will be interesting to monitor the chatter of interested teams and which team might provide a landing spot. The Chiefs can’t afford to secure him at any cost, but in the right scenario, a new possibility might unfold for the Chiefs on the first night of the draft.