Broncos Need WR DaeSean Hamilton to Snap out of his Slump

DaeSean Hamilton has yet to make his presence felt as a receiver in 2019.

Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

As a rookie, DaeSean Hamilton was modestly impressive. He didn't really get much of a an opportunity to play until the second half of the season, after Demaryius Thomas had been traded and Emmanuel Sanders injured. 

However, Hamilton served as the Denver Broncos No. 2 wideout opposite of Courtland Sutton for a solid four games and catching passes from Case Keenum, the future looked bright. 

Alas, through nine games in his second year, Hamilton has been almost a no-show. Don't get me wrong, you can put on the coach's film and see him running his routes and getting separation — and you can see him putting in maximum effort as a blocker — but as a pass-catcher, it's not coming out in the wash. 

Hamilton's second year got off on the wrong foot when he dropped a pass in the end zone back in Week 1 at Oakland, with the Broncos trying to battle back from a deficit late in the game. That drop clearly affected Joe Flacco's confidence in Hamilton, as he would go on to receive just 19 targets over the next seven games. 

With Flacco done for the season, I was curious to see whether Hamilton would garner more opportunities with a different QB operating the offense. But in Week 9, Brandon Allen targeted Hamilton a grand total of zero times. 

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Hamilton played 32 snaps vs. Cleveland and in fairness, Allen only dropped back to pass 23 times (12-of-20 passing/Three sacks), with Sutton and TE Noah Fant consuming 12 of those targets. But as the team's No. 2 wideout, Hamilton simply has to do better than he has. 

“Yesterday’s game was a little unusual," head coach Vic Fangio said on Monday. "We had those big plays. We only had in the low 40s of offensive snaps in the game. We only threw the ball 20 times with 12 completions. There really wasn’t a lot of opportunity for a lot of guys, although we got good production out of it. We had, I think it was like 78 percent of our offense yesterday came in eight plays. To get back to your question, he just needs to keep working at it and hopefully his opportunities will come.”

I wish I could tell you what's holding Hamilton back. He's normally a very sure-handed receiver and he's an excellent route runner. But the ball simply isn't going his way. 

Maybe he needs to be more vocal. Hamilton is kind of a quiet guy. The bottom line is, the Broncos need a No. 2 wideout to emerge with Sanders traded to San Francisco. 

Hamilton should be that WR2, especially considering that he's started the last two games with Sanders gone and he represents a fifth-round investment by the team. The second-year pro has been targeted 23 times this year with 11 receptions for just 106 yards. 

That's a pretty atrocious target-to-catch ratio. When targeted, Hamilton is only catching 47.8% of his passes, but only two of those incompletions have been drops. 

Sutton, for example, has hauled in 65.6% of his targets. It might simply be a matter of Hamilton running more routes out of the slot where the opportunity for separation is arguably a little harder to come by in traffic, but I don't buy that. 

Tim Patrick is expected to return to the lineup in Week 11 after the bye. It will be interesting to see who gets the lion's share of the No. 2 snaps with Patrick back on the field. I imagine it'll be Patrick, with Hamilton relegated back to slot duties primarily. 

Whatever the issue is, hopefully, the bye week has afforded Hamilton the opportunity to shake of his lackluster start to this season and snap out of his slump. He can start fresh during next week's practice ahead of the Minnesota game. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.