Between seasons at Penn State, DaeSean Hamilton would spend hours meticulously studying film of the NFL’s premier slot receivers.
What makes those players so successful, the NFL draft hopeful would ask himself, and how can I use that to improve my own game?
Hamilton would pull up highlights of Doug Baldwin running routes for the Seattle Seahawks or Jarvis Landry catching passes for the Miami Dolphins. And he always loved watching Julian Edelman.
In fact, the 23-year-old sees a lot of himself in the New England Patriots star.
“He plays a lot bigger than his size, and he’s really quick in and out of cuts,” Hamilton said Thursday in a phone interview with NESN.com. “He creates separation with all the routes that he runs. He runs great routes, uses his stems and leverages. … He plays violent, and he’s obviously fearless going across the middle. That what I liked to see when I was watching Julian Edelman play.”
As that quote suggests, Hamilton, a four-year starter at Penn State, considers route-running his greatest strength as a receiver. His ability to get open allowed him to haul in a school-record 214 receptions in 51 games for the Nittany Lions, ranking second in program history with 2,842 receiving yards and tied for fourth with 18 receiving touchdowns.
After catching 53 passes for 857 yards and nine scores as a senior in 2017, Hamilton has spent the winter and spring doing all he can to impress NFL evaluators. The Patriots are one of several teams who have shown interest in the 6-foot-1, 205-pound slot target.
Before Penn State’s pro day last month — during which Hamilton impressed observers by running a 4.52-second 40-yard dash after sitting out the event at the NFL Scouting Combine — he privately met with New England receivers coach Chad O’Shea.
“The meeting went really well,” said Hamilton, who played primarily in the slot during his final two collegiate seasons but also has experience as an outside receiver. “I met with him before my pro day workout, so he came in the morning. Really, it was just talking football. He tried to get to know me a bit personally. He obviously did a lot of his research beforehand … so he had a pretty good idea of what type of guy I was.
“So really, we just got really down to the point. He just talked about my football history, really tried to see what I knew football-wise, football knowledge-wise. And after the workout, with my position drills, he was running the wide receiver drills for the most part.”
(That’s been a common occurrence for Patriots coaches this offseason. Head coach Bill Belichick and defensive line coach Brendan Daly also have been seen directing their own pro day drills.)
After letting Danny Amendola walk in free agency and trading Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams, the Patriots could look to draft a wideout later this month.
They currently have nine receivers on their roster, but only three of them caught a pass in a Pats uniform last season, with Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell both suffering season-ending knee injuries before Week 1. (Amendola picked up a lot of slack in the slot with Edelman out.)
Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett, Kenny Britt and the recently acquired Cordarrelle Patterson all are entering the final year of their contracts, and Edelman turns 32 in May. Adding some controllable youth at the position certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Hamilton, who currently is considered a mid-round prospect, believes he’d fit in well in New England.
“Absolutely,” he said. “They’ve got, obviously, a lot of talent coming back on that team. They’re a Super Bowl contender — a Super Bowl winner a couple years ago. Getting an opportunity to play for that team, I would obviously be really excited for that. I can see myself fitting in and hopefully contributing in any way possible.”
Hamilton also has met with the Baltimore Ravens and worked out for the Dallas Cowboys. He has another workout with the Atlanta Falcons scheduled for Friday.
