And the coach admitted as much on Thursday, saying he feels like he has more players at his disposal as the side enters the second half of the season.
"This year I feel like we've got a few more guys," he said at Waverley on Thursday ahead of the Friday night clash with Carlton. "I think we go a little bit deeper."
He said the Hawks had added depth players such as Jonathan Simpkin and Matt Spangher to the side this year, as well as Brian Lake, who was specifically recruited to the club to fill the need for a hulking key defender.
There was traffic the other way with Tom Murphy, Steve Gilham and Clinton Young all leaving for rival AFL clubs, but the emergence of Bradley Hill, Taylor Duryea, Jed Anderson and Sam Grimley means Clarkson has more players to call on this year.
"We have a few blokes over the last two or three years that for whatever reason haven't been ready to play senior footy," he said.
"But I feel with the younger blokes, they're better prepared to play senior footy now that they've been on our list for two or three years."
Duryea, Grimley and Anderson have each made their debut this year.
All up, the Hawks have used 30 players through 10 games this year.
Of those, only Ryan Schoenmakers won't play again this year because of a knee reconstruction, while yet to play a senior game this year are finals players from last year Brendan Whitecross and Xavier Ellis.
Both are back playing for Box Hill on their way back from injury and will contend for senior selection later in the year.
