Hamsah Nasirildeen attended Concord High School in North Carolina and was an absolute stud from day 1. He played safety, linebacker, tight end, and wide receiver for their football team. During his junior year, he made 85 tackles, 5 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, broke up seven passes, and also caught 35 passes for 634 yards on offense.
As a senior in high school, Hamsah was named a US Army All-American after making 108 tackles, 3 interceptions, and then 45 receptions for 751 yards and 5 touchdowns. He initially committed to South Carolina but at the end of his senior year, he changed his commitment to Florida State.
During his 4-year career with FSU, Nasirildeen was a starter for the FSU defense and one of the best players on the team. He played in the 2017 Independence Bowl and was named to the Second Team All-ACC in 2019. Nasirildeen has all the making of an NFL star.
Here are his 4-year college career stats (via ESPN):
Strengths:
- Standing at 6’4 and 215 lbs, Hamsah is an extremely lengthy safety that has all the agility and speed of someone 5-6 inches smaller than him. He moves with great fluidity and has a real sense of explosiveness about him that allows him to be great in pass coverage.
- He’s scary when attacking downfield and his tackling is superb. He hits seriously hard and his height and length allow him to wrap up his targets with ease.
- He always takes the best angles when attacking the ball and will look to strip it from the opponent, something I absolutely love when watching a safety.
- One of those types of defenders that always seems to be around the football, you hardly ever see him standing still, even if he’s away from the ball/play.
- One of the most versatile defenders in the draft class this year and that’s saying something. He can play all safety positions, whether that’s deep, in the slot or in the box.
Weaknesses:
- The main issue with Hamsah comes in the way of ball skills. He isn’t a very good tracker of the ball and he can’t really play it when it’s in the air but with his athletic profile, receivers still find it tough to win contested-catch scenarios. He won’t be able to lean on intangibles alone at the next level.
- He does struggle covering running backs when they motion out as a pass-catcher. It was something he never improved on even though he blitzed a lot for Florida State.
- He also tore his ACL late in the 2019 season and it was a non-contact injury. That hasn’t really hurt him in terms of performances but its something to note in terms of durability.
- Like I said before, he can play all over the defense as a safety and can blitz, but he doesn’t shine in any particular role.
What he can bring to the Eagles:
While the Eagles safety concerns have been helped a lot by the signing of Anthony Harris, it’s more of a quick fix rather than securing the position’s integrity for years to come. With Rodney McLeod coming off of a season-ending injury and Jalen Mills and Rudy Ford departing in in free agency, the Eagles are left with just a few safeties on the roster after next year.
The Eagles need at least one more safety to go alongside Wallace for the future and that’s where Hamsah enters the equation. Hamsah can go anywhere in the 2nd or 3rd round and would be a huge get for the Eagles given the situation I just laid out. Jonathan Gannon turned Anthony Harris into a ball-hawk, so who says he can’t do the same with Hamsah Nasirildeen?
Photo by Logan Stanford/Icon Sportswire
