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Denver Broncos: Players who could steal jobs in 2020

By Sayre Bedinger

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - OCTOBER 19: KJ Hamler #1 of the Penn State Nittany Lions warms up before the game against the Michigan Wolverines on October 19, 2019 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State defeats Michigan 28-21. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - OCTOBER 19: KJ Hamler #1 of the Penn State Nittany Lions warms up before the game against the Michigan Wolverines on October 19, 2019 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State defeats Michigan 28-21. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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KJ Hamler, Denver Broncos
COLLEGE PARK, MD – SEPTEMBER 27: KJ Hamler #1 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs with the ball during a college football game against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium on September 27, 2019 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

KJ Hamler – Slot receiver/return specialist

With KJ Hamler, it kind of feels like he’s coming for one or the other of these two positions, not necessarily both.

Vic Fangio expressed some, let’s call it concern over the idea of a player who contributes heavily to the offense also returning kicks and punts for you.

Especially a player with smaller size like Hamler, you don’t necessarily want him out there taking shots on special teams when he could be such an integral part of the offense.

With that said, Hamler’s explosiveness is also very hard to leave off the field and he could be a game-changer in the return game. He would have to steal the job from Diontae Spencer who came into Denver last year at final cuts and did a really good job.

Hamler is also going to have to steal the slot receiver job from his former college teammate at Penn State, DaeSean Hamilton.

At this point, everyone feels like that’s a foregone conclusion but Hamilton has been learning the in’s and out’s of being a pro over the last two seasons, and he’s just as capable of a breakout year in his third NFL season as anybody.

The Broncos will find a way to get Hamler on the field one way or another, but he’s going to have to beat out a couple of guys for spots and earn his place.

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