2025 NFL Draft Review Part Four – Ty Hamilton

Introduction

After the Rams traded up for Jarquez Hunter, they had a long wait from pick 117 all the way until 195 to be able to make another selection. Or at least that was the case at that time, as the Rams were aggressive once again and decided to trade up for another prospect that they expected to have been long gone.

The trade itself included the Rams giving up pick 195 and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft, in return for pick 148 from the Chicago Bears. Although it may seem a lot, I think the value of the trade isn’t actually that bad for the Rams as they moved up almost 50 spots in return for the fourth-round pick next year, but it’s the position and player that I would be questioning the trade up for more than anything.

The Rams selected Ty Hamilton with the 148th pick of the draft, a defensive tackle out of Ohio State who won the National Championship in the most recent college football season. I’ll dive deeper in to him later, but to trade a fourth round pick next year for a defensive tackle, a position group which was already pretty deep before this pick, makes the trade a little more questionable.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic projected Hamilton to go in the third round and Lance Zierlein on NFL.com projected him to go in the fourth round so the Rams did get good value getting him in the middle of the fifth round. However, the Rams already have plenty of players who can play on the inside of the defensive line: Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Larrell Murchison, Desjuan Johnson, Poona Ford and Tyler Davis. 

While everyone saw how effective a deep defensive line group was for the Eagles in their Super Bowl run last season, there has to be some balance between adding to the room and the value given up for the trade up. In my opinion, the trade up was a little too much for a position room that is already quite full, and that is nothing against Hamilton as a player or person, I personally would’ve waited until later in the draft and save the future pick if they definitely wanted to draft another defensive tackle.

Trade up grade: C+

Rams select Ty Hamilton at pick 148

The Rams clearly wanted and needed to bolster their run defence after giving up so many yards and touchdowns to Saquon Barkley in both their regular season and postseason games against the Eagles. They already signed DT Poona Ford and LB Nate Landman in free agency who both excel in run defence, so the addition of another run stuffing defensive tackle in Ty Hamilton can help add to the rotation and keep our defence fresh as games go on. 

Playing on an impressive Ohio State defensive front, Hamilton was often overlooked and did a lot of the dirty work for the national champions. Tyleik Williams, Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau were all on that D line and drafted ahead of Trade up grade: C+Hamilton as they flashed more pass rush upside, but Hamilton was arguably the best run defender of the lot. 

For a defensive tackle, he is very nimble and twitchy, something that the Rams have liked in their defensive linemen ever since the incredible success of the nimble and athletic Aaron Donald. Hamilton’s RAS (Relative Athletic Score) was a 9.21 which was 160th best out of 2022 defensive tackles that have been scored since 1987, being touted as having elite speed and great explosion for his position. For reference, Kobie Turner only received a 7.10 score for his RAS which proves just how athletic Hamilton is because Turner is absolutely no slouch.

He uses his athleticism to blast past blocks with his elite quickness and get in to his gap before offensive linemen can get their hands on him. This can also put running backs on the back foot as they can be faced with a defender almost immediately in their running lane as soon as they take the hand off. His get off and burst off the line of scrimmage pops off the screen when you watch his tape, even against the other D-linemen that got drafted ahead of him.

However, his burst and athleticism is to make up for a lack of mass and length. He is 6”3 and 299lbs which are pretty average numbers for an NFL defensive tackle. His arm length is also way below par in both the NFL and this draft class, just 32 ¼ inches long. The desired arm length is widely considered to be around 34 inches for defensive linemen in the NFL so that they can’t get easily controlled and manhandled by larger and longer offensive linemen. This means that once an offensive lineman gets his hands on Hamilton and sets their base, he often struggles to fight back and get off the block.

Despite having a lack of length, he still racks up plenty of tackles for a DT as he has great pursuit speed and a good motor too. He never gives up on the play even if he gets out of position or the play goes the opposite direction to him, he will always hustle to the ball and try to make a play. Hamilton also possesses good arm strength, which means that he is a great tackler when he can get his hands on a ball carrier. In his final college season, Hamilton made 51 tackles including 6 for a loss at just a 7% missed tackle attempt rate which are all very impressive numbers for a defensive tackle. 

His tackling ability is boosted by the impressive power he is able to produce from his base. He is able to drop anchor really effectively and not allow offensive lineman to overpower him and push him back to give their running back more room to run. When you watch his tape, you never see him going backwards, acting as a wall on the defensive front. Although it will be different in the NFL and he will come up against more physical and stronger offensive linemen than he ever saw in college, he shows great promise to be able to hold his own in the league with great burst paired with the power and anchor he can use to help stop the run and eat up double teams.

In spite of that, he really needs to work on his pass rush plans and moves. He often relies on his quick get off too often, so if offensive linemen are quick enough to get in front of him and get their hands on him, then he becomes stagnant as a pass rusher. There was very little evidence of him using many pass rush moves at all, let alone winning with them, so I think the Rams will hope to get more out of him by coaching him up and having other skilled pass rushers in the room help be his mentor. This will mean that he can become a rotational option on the defensive line on all three downs for the Rams rather than strictly running situations which will continue to help keep everyone fresh on that front to terrorise quarterbacks from the first whistle to the last.

For now though, Hamilton will act as good depth on the young and fierce defensive line for the Rams, especially on early downs where more runs will be expected. This can help keep the likes of Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske fresh throughout the whole game and maintain pressure on the quarterback as well as stopping the run for the entire 60 minutes. Hamilton actually never missed a single game of college football through injury, even though he played 55 games over the last four years of his college career. This proves that he can be a reliable piece of the defence for the Rams who can slot in whenever he is needed without being a detriment to the performance of the team.

Draft pick grade: B

Conclusion

Ty Hamilton projects as a steady defensive tackle that will be able to sub in and show flashes of ability in stopping the run but will need time to mature and improve his pass rushing ability before he can establish himself at the front of the Rams’ depth chart and appear on all three downs. 

Hamilton actually has eerily similar characteristics and attributes to previous Rams draftee Tyler Davis. Coming out of the 2024 draft, Davis measured 6”2 and 301 lbs with 31 3/8 inch arm length which are all very close to Hamilton’s numbers. Davis was also credited with having great burst off the line paired with impressive power he generates from his base despite a lack of length and mass. We didn’t see much of Davis last year but he still managed to put up half a sack with 36 tackles (2.5 for a loss) in the regular and post season combined. He was a 6th round pick in 2024, so those numbers for your rookie campaign as a defensive tackle are quite promising. 

The Rams will be hoping that Hamilton can follow in Davis’s footsteps by making an early impact and offering quality depth. Davis can now also help Hamilton through the process even though he is just a second year player, but having someone there that has been through the process and is very similar to Hamilton will be very helpful to him early on in his Rams career.

The addition of Hamilton, as well as Josaiah Stewart earlier on in the draft, helps establish this defensive line as one of the best in the league regardless of the youth and lack of experience throughout the position group.