Former Central Catholic, Pitt star Damar Hamlin goes to Bills in 6th round

Damar Hamlin spent so much time at Pitt — five seasons from 2016-20 — that it might be difficult to imagine him in another uniform.

But the free safety from McKees Rocks and Central Catholic will wear the colors of the Buffalo Bills after they drafted him in the sixth round Saturday. He was the 212th player and the fifth Pitt defensive player drafted over the past two days.

Y’all grabbed a LEADER! #BillsMafia I’m ready to work! ? https://t.co/PAKOrxcHn3

— ????? ?????? (@HamlinIsland) May 1, 2021

With the Bills, he’ll join former Pitt cornerback Dane Jackson, who went to Buffalo in the seventh round last year.

Hamlin, 23, never redshirted at Pitt, but he sought and was awarded a fifth season by the NCAA after injuries allowed him to play in only three games as a freshman in 2016 and forced him to miss three in 2017.

But he played in and started 36 of Pitt’s next 38 games, establishing himself as one of the best safeties in the ACC (second team in 2020 when he also was a Pitt team captain).

ESPN’s Todd McShay ranked him the eighth-best safety in the draft, but there were 13 selected ahead of him.

Hamlin (6-foot-1, 195 pounds) led Pitt in tackles in 2018 (90) and ‘20 (67) on his way to a career total of 290. In his five seasons, he recorded six interceptions, 27 pass breakups and 10 TFLs.

“Everything’s average across the board, except the way he plays the game with his aggressiveness and his physicality,” McShay said. “He’s always around the football. He breaks up passes. He’ll press you. He can work in the slot. He’ll read the quarterback’s eyes and come up and hit you.

“I can guarantee you right now, he’s going to make the 53-man roster as a special-teams maven, and he’ll develop into a play-maker and some kind of contributor in the back end of the defense for the Buffalo Bills.”

“Great kid,” ESPN’s Mel Kiper added. “I compare him to (former Pittsburgh Steelers safety) Ryan Clark, who was overlooked coming out of LSU.”

Kiper listed Hamlin as his best available player in the fourth round Saturday, but he wasn’t picked until two rounds later. “A bunch of teams really, really missed out,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said.

After working out for NFL scouts at Pitt’s Pro Day last month when he ran a 4.59 40, Hamlin said he can bring more than the requisite athletic ability to the NFL.

“Everybody in the NFL has that,” he said. “I would say I’m a natural-born leader. I’m a player who is going to make everybody around me better.”

He said returning for a fifth year helped his understanding of the game.

“I feel like I improved being a student of the game, really just learning why teams are doing what they’re doing against us and why they don’t do certain stuff against us,” he said. “I give all credit to my position coach, coach Cory Sanders, when it comes to that.

“So, going on that field, everything’s just happened a little bit slower just because I got that knowledge as if I’m a coach.”