At the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama we typically get a meeting of the minds.
It isn’t unusual to have multiple NFL head coaches, general managers, scouts, agents, and the like participating in the annual college all-star event.
Not only are they there to do work for their teams, but during the downtime, late at night, people tend to gossip and chit-chat.
Coming off of that glorious weekend we received a very interesting nugget that could be a glimpse into the future for the New York Jets.
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A Juicy Nugget to Consider
In Rich Cimini’s Sunday morning column he shared some of the buzz he heard down at the Senior Bowl from the hallways and the bleachers:
“Word has it they’re [the Jets] high on Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton, projected as a top-10 pick. That might seem rich for a safety, considering it’s a non-premium position, but Hamilton is viewed by some evaluators as a unicorn.”
The Jets’ two starting safeties from this past season (Marcus Maye, Lamarcus Joyner) are both set to be unrestricted free agents this spring. Both players are coming off of serious injuries that ended their seasons: Maye ruptured his Achilles and Joyner tore his triceps.
It is unclear if the green and white will bring back either player which leaves two gaping holes on the backend of their defense.
Hamilton is the No. 4 overall player on ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper’s updated big board.
Kiper described him as “one of the most versatile defenders in the country” coming out of college and said “he is exactly” what NFL teams want in their “first-round safeties.”
Fans Are Grabbing Torches, Pitch Forks
It didn’t take long as we reached the offseason for Jets fans to share what prospect they don’t want to see end up in green and white. The overwhelming majority have expressed that they have no interest in the talented Notre Dame safety.
Storming the stage is never an ideal reaction to a draft pick.
The Jets have been on a recent offensive run in the first round and some fans would like to see that continue.
@NYJ_Matt No Jets fan wants Kyle Hamilton in 1st RD
We are only in February yet Jets fans are more than willing to share their definitive takes on this subject.
The source of most of the Jets fan’s frustrations with the Jets-Hamilton pairing is their scars from the past.
The last time the Jets took a safety in the first round was back in 2017 when they selected Jamal Adams out of LSU with the No. 6 overall pick.
He was supposed to be a game-changing player, a culture builder, and someone you could build around. While he had really solid levels of success in the NFL, many questioned his impact on the game especially as it pertains to winning football games.
Ultimately when it came time to pay the piper, general manager Joe Douglas opted out and traded him away for a blockbuster haul instead to the Seattle Seahawks.
Those flashes from the past have forced most Jets fans to reject the notion of ever taking a safety in the first round again.
However, I’ll drop a nugget in from my Mock Draft Monday series on my YouTube channel where we speak to different experts every week who talk Jets and the latest draft tidbits.
NFL draft analyst Ryan Roberts recently explained why Hamilton is far superior to Adams and made the pitch to Jets fans why it would make sense:
“We aren’t just talking about a really good football player which Adams is in his peak. We are potentially talking about the best safety in the NFL in a few years. This guy [Hamilton] is the only blue-chip prospect in my opinion, in this class. I think people throw out the word generational too much, but this kid is generational. The best safety I have ever evaluated bar-none.”
.@RiseNDraft said @NDFootball DB Kyle Hamilton (@kyledhamilton_) ‘is the only blue chip prospect’ in the 2022 #NFLDraft + ‘generational’ + ‘face of a franchise’ + will be the best safety in the #NFL within 4 years + great fit for #Jets: #TakeFlight #GoIrish
You can check out the full interview by clicking the link here.
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Jets Are ‘High’ on Divisive Unicorn Prospect, Fans Are Upset