Notre Dame draft watch: Latest on Hamilton and Williams after NFL Combine invites
The NFL Combine invite list was released on Wednesday, and five Notre Dame prospects received invites: receiver Kevin Austin, quarterback Jack Coan, safety Kyle Hamilton, defensive lineman Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and running back Kyren Williams.
Hamilton and Williams are the locks to be taken in the draft, while the other three prospects will need to perform well at the combine.
Following the Senior, Shrine and NFLPA bowls in recent weeks, possibilities for the draft are becoming more clear. Here is the latest on Hamilton and Williams.
Hamilton – expected top-five pick
Hamilton, an expected top-five selection for nearly all NFL Draft experts, has few down sides. PFF cited his 2021 knee injury, although he is expected to make a full recovery. As they note, at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Hamilton lacks a little quickness. Of course, that size is also one of his greatest strengths and will be useful in a league which is seeing an increased role for tight ends on many teams.
PFF ranks Hamilton third overall on their Big Board and ultimately compared him to a “longer Derwin James.” The former Florida State safety was a first-round pick by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2018 draft.
In Seth Galina’s latest mock draft, he has Hamilton going No. 5 overall to the New York Giants.
ESPN’s Todd McShay bumped Hamilton up two spots in his latest mock draft. The safety was previously No. 5 and now sits in the No. 3 position. A product of the aforementioned size, Shay argues Hamilton’s area of improvement involves working on perfecting his angles to ensure he does not miss tackles. According to PFF, Hamilton missed eight tackles in nine games last season and two tackles in just over six full games in 2021.
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McShay’s colleague Jordan Reid released a two-round mock draft on Wednesday, and Hamilton is the only Notre Dame player in the mix. Like Galina, Reid has Hamilton going to the New York Giants. Unlike Galina, he believes he falls to the Giants second pick, the No. 7 overall selection which they have via the Chicago Bears.
Kyren Williams – likely Day 2 pick
Williams didn’t have the year he wanted in 2021, but he is still a likely Day 2 pick come April. PFF complimented his pass blocking and receiving skills — receiving skills which are becoming highly-coveted in a pass-happy NFL full of all-purpose backs — but cited his early-season struggles in 2021 with a floundering offensive line as a downside to the running back. Williams averaged fewer than 62 yards per game in Notre Dame’s first six contests, games which were played against the better defenses on the Irish schedule last year.
PFF added Williams does not have a “real trump card trait,” but he was certainly one of the more elusive Notre Dame running backs in recent memory.
In McShay’s opinion, Williams in the No. 5 running back in the draft. He is listed behind the usual suspects — Texas A&M’s Isaiah Spiller, Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III and Iowa State’s Breece Hall. But McShay also believes Georgia’s James Cook is just a notch better than the former Irish running back.
