Antonio Hamilton brings special teams expertise to KC Chiefs defense
By Matt Conner
We asked New York Giants reporter Ed Valentine of Big Blue View to tell us more about newly-signed cornerback Antonio Hamilton.
So far in free agency, the Kansas City Chiefs have been content to participate in a series of low-key additions as they largely sign their own unrestricted free agents and watch the rest of the NFL spend big. One of those additions to the team is former New York Giants cornerback Antonio Hamilton.
Hamilton spent the last two seasons with the Giants after two seasons spent with the Oakland Raiders. In that time, Hamilton climbed depth charts from a longshot, undrafted free agent to even starting two games last year for New York. It is important to note, however, just how poor a team the Giants were last year.
We recently reached out to Ed Valentine, editor of Big Blue View, to tell us more about Hamilton and what Chiefs fans should expect.
How much can you tell us about Antonio Hamilton? He looks like a rarely used corner who ascended the depth chart fairly well, but how much did he stand out to you?
He’s an outstanding gunner on special teams. A real difference-maker in the field position game. I would assume that will be his primary role in Kansas City. He’s a reserve cornerback, probably not a guy you want on the field a whole lot defensively. The primary issue he has defensively is probably what some would call play strength. He misses some 1-on-1 tackles, mostly because he just doesn’t seem strong enough to make them.
Were you aware of any attempt by NY to keep him?
I was not. With Joe Judge having been a special teams coach I was a little surprised by that. The Giants, though, chose to keep Cody Core and add Nate Ebner from New England.
What do you think of his potential moving forward?
I think he will continue to be an excellent special teams guy. He hasn’t had a lot of defensive opportunities, and I’n guessing the Chiefs would like to keep it that way. If he was a better tackler he’d be more useful defensively, but he’s really a hang on and wait for help guy in that department.
Many thanks to Ed Valentine for answering our questions! Give him a follow on Twitter at @bigblueview.