Kyle Hamilton Is Key to Neutralizing 49ers’ Talented Playmakers
Other than Jackson, perhaps the most important player on the field for the Ravens in Christmas night’s showdown against San Francisco is safety Kyle Hamilton.
The Baltimore Sun’s Childs Walker said Hamilton will be the key to the Ravens’ maintaining a handle on the 49ers’ all-star cast of playmakers.
“Now, it’s on to the 49ers, the greatest tactical test Hamilton and his defensive mates will face during the regular season and one they might encounter again if they achieve their goal of playing in the Super Bowl,” Walker wrote. “San Francisco has one of the best outside receivers in the league in Brandon Aiyuk, the top yard-after-catch threat in Deebo Samuel, the No. 1 tight end in George Kittle, and oh, the league’s most versatile, productive running back in Christian McCaffrey. Not to mention an accurate, mistake-averse distributor in quarterback Brock Purdy.
“If the Ravens are to hold these varied nemeses in check, Hamilton, with his gift for morphing from snap to snap, will almost surely be a major reason. He’s big enough to cover the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Kittle, quick enough to shadow McCaffrey sideline to sideline and aggressive enough to drop Samuel before he can turn a mundane catch into a home run.”
The Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Shaffer noted in his in-depth feature on Hamilton that he has been everything the Ravens hoped he would be and more after they drafted him No. 14 overall in 2022.
“In a season of revelations for the Ravens’ elite defense, Hamilton’s meteoric ascent has been the most consequential — and perhaps the least surprising,” Shaffer wrote. “The former first-round pick is, quite literally, built differently, upending the modern prototype for NFL safeties with a generational blend of talents: a physique that inspires comparisons to NBA lottery picks, a dedication to film study that rubs off on family members, a versatility that lends itself to ‘unicorn’ comparisons, and an ‘uber intelligence’ that optimizes his every move.
“This was the hope when the Ravens made Hamilton one of the highest-drafted safeties in recent history last year. Afterward, he’d called his surprising fall to No. 14 overall a ‘blessing.’ Only now is the rest of the NFL realizing what was truly possible with Hamilton: everything.”
