DaeSean Hamilton's Fantasy Value Rising Following Late-Season Volume Increase

Expectations for DaeSean Hamilton's rookie year weren't very high heading into 2018. He was taken in the fourth round of the NFL Draft and joined a lackluster Denver Broncos offense that was led by Case Keenum and a cadre of rookie running backs. He was also buried on the depth chart behind Emmanuel Sanders, Demaryius Thomas and Courtland Sutton.
Things went about as expected to start -- he was targeted only seven times across his first 10 games. Once he got some opportunity at the end of the season though, he impressed.
? ? 18 fantasy football SLEEPERS for the 2019 season via Director of PFF Fantasy @JeffRatcliffe
— PFF (@PFF) August 13, 2019
?: https://t.co/E7PdNtuBta pic.twitter.com/Wj2gmhg32I
Hamilton saw no fewer than eight targets or five receptions in any of those final four games of the season.
There's an obvious caveat here -- Emmanuel Sanders missed all four of those games, and Sanders does look to be way ahead of schedule in recovering from his torn Achilles tendon.
Vic Fangio told reporters today that WR Emmanuel Sanders (Achilles) is expected to play at some point in the preseason. Sanders appeared to be a full participant in 11-on-11 practice today. All encouraging signs with the Week 1 opener now four weeks out.
— Kyle Fredrickson (@kylefredrickson) August 12, 2019
This doesn't destroy Hamilton's value, though. Hamilton out-targeted fellow rookie and second-round pick Courtland Sutton in three of those four final games, notching 38 targets and 25 receptions in that stretch, compared to 25 targets and 14 receptions for Sutton.
Even if Sanders opens the season at full health, there should be room for at least one more wideout on the team to offer some fantasy value, and it's far from a lock that Sutton will be the guy.
There's a huge gap in average draft position (ADP) between Sutton and Hamilton right now as well. Sutton is going off the board as the WR38, while Hamilton is way down at WR66 – essentially undrafted.
Considering what we saw when those two shared the field last year, the gap in ADP shouldn't be nearly that big. Sutton will likely get the longer leash as a former second-round pick, but if Hamilton continues to outplay him it's going to be hard for Denver to keep him off the field.
That possibility points to some serious potential for DaeSean Hamilton as a late-round sleeper pick.
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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.