PISCATAWAY -- If there was a silver lining to the knee injury that sidelined Rutgers defensive tackle Darius Hamilton for most of last season it's that he was finally able to add weight to his 6-foot-3 frame.

Of course, adding pounds through inactivity wasn't ideal.

"I think not playing football for a year definitely helped a lot," Hamilton said. "When I put it on, I put on a lot of bad weight."

Hamilton met with new strength and conditioning coach Kenny Parker this winter to lose the bad weight without sacrificing size.

"He really changed my ways around," Hamilton said. "So now I'm a lean 283 (pounds). I've managed to maintain it all through spring ball as of right now with the pads on and everything. I'm excited to see where we go from here."

Hamilton said he weighed around 251 pounds when Rutgers played in the Quick Lane Bowl at the end of the 2014 season. That's the last time Hamilton was truly healthy, as he suffered a knee injury last spring that limited him to a handful of snaps in one game last season.

Hamilton overcame his size advantage due to his superior quickness and technique. The fifth-year senior was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2014 after recording 45 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and six sacks.

Hamilton has already felt the benefits of the increased weight in spring practice.

"It's totally different. Playing at 250 and playing at 283, you can feel it when you put your hands on people," Hamilton said. "You know that they feel it. It's totally different. It's a world of difference, honestly. To be able to be this heavy, which I've never been, and still maintain the same technique, I feel like in the long run it's going to work wonders for me."

Hamilton said he didn't lose any quickness as he bulked up.

"Now we have to work on maintaining that quickness," Hamilton said. "You can have quickness for one no-huddle play, two no-huddle plays, and as soon as you get to the third you can have your hands on your knees and you're gassed. Conditioning is still something we have to work on, but all in all, I think it's going pretty well."

Dan Duggan may be reached at dduggan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DDuggan21. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.