Kansas City Chiefs: What to expect from Antonio Hamilton in 2020
By Shade Piper
Finally, the Kansas City Chiefs have made their first blockbuster move of the 2020 offseason with the signing of cornerback and special teams standout Antonio Hamilton. What should fans expect from him?
Chiefs Kingdom has been somewhat patiently waiting for Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach to make his first move of the 2020 offseason. Our wishes came to fruition on Friday, as Adam Schefter announced the signing of cornerback Antonio Hamilton.
Now I know this wasn’t the big exciting move everyone loves to see, and frankly, most fans (including me) promptly went to Google to learn who Antonio Hamilton even is, but small moves like this are necessary to fill out a championship roster.
So, who is this Antonio Hamilton guy? He is a 6’0″, 190-pound cornerback out of South Carolina State and a four-year pro who has spent time with both the Raiders and the Giants.
Here’s one of the special teams plays I saw Hamilton make last year that made me go “whoa”https://t.co/KwRkVLNfJZ
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) March 20, 2020
Hamilton is noted to be a standout special teams player who has upside at the cornerback position. PFF gave him a 67.5 defensive grade and an 80.2 special teams grade. Hamilton should be a standout for Coach Toub’s special teams unit next season and hopefully, Coach Spagnuolo can tap into some of his defensive potential.
Of note, 74 of Hamilton’s 132 defensive snaps last season came in week 17. He performed exceptionally well in week 17 flashing his upside and coming away with an 85.1 coverage grade and a 91.5 pass-rush grade. He also only allowed two completions on eight targets and had four pass breakups.
His late-season success gives the Chiefs at least a sliver of hope that he can turn into an asset on defense in addition to his special teams value.
Hamilton’s agent, @RosenhausSports, adds that Hamilton took less money than another team offered to sign with the Chiefs.
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) March 20, 2020
Overall last season, Hamilton played 81% of special teams snaps for the Giants and 12% of the defensive snaps. Chiefs fans should taper their defensive expectations for him at least a little, but let’s dig into his small defensive sample size a little further and compare him to KC’s top cornerbacks from last season.
In his 132 defensive snaps, he was targeted 18 times and allowed a 67 completion percentage and allowed 8.7 yards per target (again, remember in his highest usage rate game these numbers look much better, 25% and six yds/tgt).
Bashaud Breeland also allowed 8.7 yards per target last season, but only a 48.4 completion percentage and Charvarius Ward allowed 7.1 yards per target and a 47.2 completion percentage. Hamilton’s yards per target allowed is very similar to the Chiefs top cornerbacks, but needs some improvement overall after allowing 67% of passes to be completed.
Next. Chiefs Draft Big Board 1.0. dark
What we do know right now is that he will be a key player on special teams next season. Fans can also hope that he blossoms into a serviceable cornerback and can play some meaningful defensive snaps next season, but the best part about Hamilton is that he took less to come play for the Chiefs, per Terez Paylor, and Chiefs Kingdom should love that!
This might not be a big name signing, but the Kansas City Chiefs have added someone they feel can contribute, especially on special teams. What do you make of this signing, Chiefs Kingdom?