Baltimore Ravens star Kyle Hamilton is one of the best safeties in the league today, so seeing his position come under attack was obviously going to catch his attention.
On Thursday’s edition of ESPN’s “Get Up,” draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. went on a confusing rant about how two high safeties are “ruining” the NFL and called for the NFL to “outlaw” the formation. You know, because we can’t have defenses adapting after how many advantages the league has given to offenses over the years.
“They’re playing so far back they’re out of the damn play,” Kiper said. “I’m telling you, we’ve got to change this thing. You can warn them, ‘Guys, you’ve got to get up a little bit. You’re too far back.’ Competition committee, somebody’s got to figure out what that depth is, but it’s too far back right now. The NFL is being ruined by these two-high safeties.”
It didn’t take long for Hamilton to catch wind of Kiper’s controversial suggestion, and to no one’s surprise, he doesn’t approve of it.
“I feel like a lot of DBs would be retiring early, and a lot of DB coaches would be fired,” Hamilton told reporters. “There’s too much talent in this league to know what coverage we’re going to be in every time. It might happen one day, honestly. People started talking about the kickoff like that; we got a new kickoff. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen while I’m in the league. That’s my thoughts on that.”
Hamilton is far from the first NFL player to call out Kiper, and he’ll be far from the last as well. Even offensive players like New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill shut the idea down, it’s that unpopular. Hamilton wasn’t even the only Raven to oppose the idea, as head coach John Harbaugh spoke his mind as well.
“It’s not really two-high so much as it’s split-safety, quarters, two-high, the variations that are umbrella-type zone coverages that keep the ball in front [and] force teams to go the long way,” Harbaugh said. “So, no I don’t think it’s going to get banned any time soon – it forces teams to be disciplined and to execute and to not make mistakes on offense and go the long [and] hard route. That’s what you have to get good at doing on offense – that’s something that we need to get good at doing.”
Regardless of fan affiliation, it’s at least good to see everyone calling out a suggestion that absolutely deserves it.
