Notre Dame Football: 3 players with most to prove in 2020
By Dante Pryor
1. Kyle Hamilton, DB, Notre Dame football
Two of the three players on this list are on defense. That’s because the Irish lost more players on defense than offense. The Irish did lose key players on offense — Cole Kmet and Chase Claypool — but they a lot of their depth defense.
The unit on that was hit hardest by departures last season was the secondary. Alohi Gillman, Jalen Elliot, Troy Pride, Shawn Crawford are all gone this season. Kyle Hamilton is the last man standing in the secondary.
Last season, he was the best defensive back this side of LSU’s Derek Stingley. This year he is being asked to lead this secondary. That is a big ask for a sophomore. However, he’s no ordinary sophomore.
He is going to have to prove he can step to the front. Last season he was surrounded by veterans and he did not start full time. However, Hamilton was so good last season that he took snaps away from the veteran starters.
When Shawn Crawford was injured, Hamilton started and shined in his role. He proved that he is an alpha, however, this season he’ll be the veteran leader and needs to show that he is capable of handling the pressure of being in the lead.