ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Daesean Hamilton will be the first one to tell you he wasn’t in love with how things went for him during his rookie season.
30 catches for 243 yards and two touchdowns in 14 games just wasn’t up to snuff for the Penn State product.
“The standards and expectations that I set for myself last year,” he said, “I didn’t meet them.”
Now with a year under his belt and a veteran receiver in Demaryius Thomas out the door, Hamilton, a fourth-round pick in 2018, is expected to be a big part of the Broncos offense under new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello.
But it’s not just the experience he now has to his name, the Scangarello scheme he says can be a “well-oiled machine,” or the Super-Bowl winning quarterback that has Hamilton feeling like he can meet his bar this year.
“Compared to last year what my role was to now, I’m running a lot more routes,” he said when asked what’s different for him this year. “I’m getting to use a lot of things I can do in route running within this offense and putting me in positions where I have to beat the guy over me and find open spaces, stuff that.”
When Hamilton was selected two rounds after fellow wide receiver Courtland Sutton, the narratives surrounding the two were on opposite sides of the spectrum. Sutton, at 6-foot-4, 216-pounds, was the raw receiver with the high ceiling. Hamilton, at 6-foot-1, 200-pounds, was considered to be a polished route-runner who could become Denver’s starting slot receiver from the get-go.
But Hamilton, in the midst of fighting for playing time on a weekly basis, never felt he was able to showcase what he could do in that regard. Now, he feels his role in the new offense is set up to showcase his biggest strengths.
“I can use my football IQ, [which] I had already had,” he added. “It’s just a different scheme, a different structure of things.”
And that IQ is only getting higher.
“I think just the difference from this year from last year is just the confidence. Last year, I was thankful to be out there on the field. Now I’m more so worried about what I am doing and making sure I’m doing the right thing at all times. Now it’s just not really worrying about if you’re doing the wrong things it’s about making the play over the guy that lined up over you and being able to play a lot faster in that regard. Last year worked for me, at least from a rookie standpoint, but now I just try to make gains, and I grow.”
Early in OTAs, it has been clear that Hamilton has a knack for getting open in the middle of the field, already having developed a nice connection with Joe Flacco on third downs for that reason.
As it stands, with Emmanuel Sanders still sidelined due to an Achilles injury, Hamilton is running as the team’s No. 2 receiver, but even if/when Sanders comes back, that step forward from both Hamilton and Sutton will be integral to Denver’s success this year.
