When the Ravens struggled final week in opposition to the Arizona Cardinals’ dashing assault, they have been saved a number of instances by second-year security Kyle Hamilton, who completed the sport with 10 tackles, together with 9 unassisted.
That’s why safeties are necessary.
They are the final line of protection, and the Ravens haven’t had a high quality participant on the place since Bernard Pollard in 2012, which can be the final time they received a Super Bowl.
Hamilton isn’t a thumper like Pollard, not but anyway, however he may grow to be that form of enforcer. In his second season, the first-round choice out of Notre Dame is fourth on the group in tackles (42) and is tied for third in sacks (three).
And he nonetheless would possibly add somewhat extra weight and muscle to that 6-foot-4, 220-pound body.
Ouch.
“It’s almost like he’s across the board gotten so much better, but I would say — if I was going to pick the number one thing that he’s really improved at — it’s just understanding of the relationships in the back end deep, whether it’s the deep middle or deep half, to the routes, having his vision opened up a little bit and seeing all the different routes that come in that he has to be responsible for,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh mentioned. “He’s actually executed an excellent job with that.
“He’s a pretty versatile player. He plays everywhere; he plays both safeties; he plays in the nickel; plays in the dime sometimes; he blitzes, he covers … the wide receivers as well. We’re pretty happy with him, and I think he knows more than anybody and the way he approaches it that he can get better, a lot better even than he is right now.”
The effort has been there. Hamilton doesn’t play with lots of flash, however he’s certainly one of many group’s most versatile defensive gamers. He can cowl a decent finish, operating again or a large receiver one-on-one.
He is massive and bodily sufficient to play close to the road of scrimmage and fast sufficient to blitz off the nook. In coordinator Mike Macdonald’s scheme, lots of the gamers within the secondary grow to be hybrids.
Hamilton is perhaps essentially the most interchangeable of all of them.
“Yeah, I think it is difficult in a sense,” Hamilton mentioned of Macdonald’s scheme. “We do so many things and I think that’s what makes us great in terms of coverage and rush. I feel like learning all that can be difficult, but once you get it down, I think it makes us really versatile.”
It helps if you’re as massive as Hamilton, who may simply be an out of doors linebacker. Last yr, although, all of the assignments and shifting round slowed him down.
When the 2022 season began, he was extra of a “box” security who stayed close to the road of scrimmage. By the center of the season, he was getting extra time within the deep third of the sector in go protection.
When 2023 coaching camp began, he had a distinct mindset.
“My goals coming into the season, first off, was just to improve on last year, especially slowing the game down,” he mentioned, “after which being a pacesetter on the sector and simply speaking, speaking.
“As a team, obviously we want to come in, win a Super Bowl every year, so that was also a huge goal of mine. I feel like we have a team that can do it with eight games remaining. I feel like we’re just getting better.”
His enchancment from a yr in the past has been important. Hamilton made 4 begins final season and completed with 55 tackles, together with two sacks. He knocked down 5 passes and led the particular groups unit with seven tackles.
He has began each sport this season and has been dominant at instances. In Week 3, a 22-19 extra time loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Hamilton had 9 tackles, together with three sacks within the first half to tie the NFL report for a defensive again. He additionally compelled a fumble and knocked down a go.
He was simply as dominant in a 31-24 victory over Arizona final Sunday.
“I feel like I’ve missed more tackles than I’ve wanted to,” Hamilton mentioned. “I feel like I could have made more plays on the ball, a couple times I had bad eyes or just being too aggressive and then something hit behind me.”
But but on the identical time …
“I think I’ve played well. I think there’s a lot of things I can improve on,” he mentioned. “I feel like I’m still scratching the surface of what I can do.”
The versatility goes again to his days at Marist School in Atlanta. He performed security and receiver on the soccer group and in addition performed basketball whereas being recruited by a number of small Division I faculties reminiscent of Princeton, Tulane and Holy Cross.
Notre Dame, although, had a distinct imaginative and prescient. They needed the then-6-3, 180-pound athlete as a security, despite the fact that Hamilton mentioned he was a bean pole. He was 5-9 as a freshman however grew to 6-3 as a sophomore.
“I was getting more offers in football,” Hamilton mentioned. “It’s actually exhausting to get basketball affords, simply the numbers sport. I really nearly dedicated to Princeton to play soccer, doubtlessly each at Princeton my sophomore yr, however at that time I used to be 150 kilos after which simply form of hit a progress spurt.
“I didn’t know how good I was at the time, but I started to get more football offers and eventually ended up at Notre Dame.”
The work ethic has been in place since he was in third grade. Hamilton’s father, Derrick, performed basketball at Southern Mississippi, was a third-round NBA draft decide of the New Jersey Nets in 1988 and performed in a number of European basketball leagues. Hamilton’s older brother, Tyler, performed basketball at Penn and William & Mary.
Derrick Hamilton nonetheless trains professional and school basketball gamers. His son is used to getting up within the morning, taking pictures the ball and getting within the steam room. He has been doing it since age 5.
“I thought at the time it was the norm, because my dad was training pro guys and saw them doing it. So I was like, ‘OK, I guess this is what basketball players do,” the youthful Hamilton mentioned.
Hamilton’s demeanor comes from his mother, Jackie. While in Europe, the Hamiltons lived in Italy, Israel and Russia at varied instances. Jackie all the time saved them centered, and the brothers have been aggressive over GPA, SAT and ACT scores.
Hamilton has the identical demeanor on the sector. The center of the Ravens protection is extraordinarily sensible with linemen Justin Madubuike and Michael Pierce, linebackers Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith and Hamilton. Seldom is Hamilton out of place, and his intelligence permits him to play nearly anyplace on protection.
He will get examined once more Sunday. The Seattle Seahawks are ranked No. 16 in whole offense, and coach Pete Carroll’s groups have all the time tried to return out with an influence operating sport.
Seattle has a complementary passing sport with veteran quarterback Geno Smith, who has resurrected his profession with the Seahawks, and standout extensive receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
“There are no weeks off in the NFL because all these guys are good, but I think we can definitely have the best defense in the league,” Hamilton mentioned. “I feel we’ve the fellows to do it. It’s simply right down to being constant, little issues, operating into the ball, tackling, communication. I really feel like doing these at an elite stage can separate us.
“As for me, I feel like I have a long way to go in terms of where I feel like I can be. I feel like I’m my biggest critic in that sense and I know that I’ve improved, but I feel like I’ve still got a long way to go.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com