Rookie enthusiasm sometimes goes too far, and I'm as guilty of it as anyone. We all get excited about the shiny new toys underneath the tree. But sometimes the previous year's toys are still good, which might be the case with DaeSean Hamilton.
Yes, the Broncos drafted two wide receivers in their top 50 picks, Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler. Jeudy almost certainly will start at some point as a rookie, maybe even Week 1, and they obviously have high expectations for Hamler, too. That's contributed to Hamilton not even being selected in the 22-round draft or auction we did in the magazine, while Jeudy was an 11th-round pick in one and went for $5 in the other.
But Hamilton was a fourth-rounder just two years ago, and while the overall production isn't there, he's flashed in the final month of each of his first two seasons. As a rookie, with Demaryius Thomas traded and Emmanuel Sanders hurt, he caught 25 passes his last four games. Then last year, he caught 15 passes in his last four, and that was working with Denver's new starting quarterback, Drew Lock. That's 40 catches in eight games; not too shabby.
| HAMILTON GAME LOG, DECEMBER 18-19 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | G | Opp | Tgt | No | Yds | TD |
| 2018 | 13 | at S.F. | 9 | 7 | 47 | 1 |
| 2018 | 14 | Clev. | 12 | 7 | 46 | 0 |
| 2018 | 15 | at Oak. | 9 | 6 | 40 | 1 |
| 2018 | 16 | LAC | 8 | 5 | 49 | 0 |
| 2019 | 13 | at Hou. | 4 | 2 | 36 | 0 |
| 2019 | 14 | at K.C. | 9 | 2 | 13 | 0 |
| 2019 | 15 | Det. | 6 | 6 | 65 | 1 |
| 2019 | 16 | Oak. | 6 | 5 | 65 | 0 |
Note that his last two games with Lock last year were awfully efficient: 11 receptions on 12 targets for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Most likely Jeudy starts across from Courtland Sutton early on, but with a likely shortened preseason, it's not certain. And Hamler? We'll see.
If you're in a best-ball draft looking at last-round targets, put Hamilton on the list. Good chance he'll be a top-3 wideout in Denver this season.
--Andy Richardson