The Kansas City Chiefs plan to use free-agent acquisition, Antonio Hamilton, in a number of different ways during the upcoming season.
One thing that’s becoming increasingly apparent is that the Chiefs like to have players in their secondary who are interchangeable and capable of playing at different spots. It makes things difficult for offenses, allowing a number of coverage shells and disguised pre-snap formations. Chiefs CB coach Sam Madison spoke a bit about Hamilton on Thursday and the role he’ll fill during the 2020 season. He compared Hamilton to former Chiefs DB Kendall Fuller.
“Yeah, you know, since Hamilton has been here, he’s very smart,” Madison said. “You know we talked to a lot of people where he came from, the Giants, and just understanding his strong points. But you know, right now we’re using him in multiple roles. We use him on the inside, we’re using him on the outside because he has done both in his career. Just trying to find the best pieces to the puzzle to put out there on the football field so we can win some games. He’s definitely going to have the opportunity to be able to help us in multiple positions, and that was the same thing that Kendall Fuller was able to do for us last year.”
Fuller began his career in Kansas City in 2018 playing slot corner for the Chiefs, rotating to the outside corner spot on certain plays. He played 103 coverage snaps on the outside compared to 493 in the slot. Last season he played a bit of everything, even playing some safety for the team later in the season. It sounds like the Chiefs plan to use Hamilton in that same inside-outside type of role that Fuller played initially. He could one day see some snaps at safety too.
In addition to Hamilton’s role on defense, according to Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub, he’s one of two players in the mix to be No. 1 gunner in Kansas City.
“The gunner position is looking pretty good,” Toub said. “We have some good, solid depth there. We brought Antonio Hamilton in from the Giants, who probably was the Giants’ number one gunner last year. When you put the tape on, he made a lot of plays for them and we’re really happy to add him to the mix. So, right now I’d probably say Antonio is in the lead, with Pringle—obviously, Pringle was our gunner all year last year—and then we have a number of guys behind them.”
Coming off a Super Bowl victory this roster is competitive and players have to be able to do a number of different things in order to make the roster. Hamilton has clearly shown the Chiefs’ coaching staff that his value spans beyond one unit and one role on the team.
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