Thread: Bears ready to give up on Hester as every-down receiver

Originally Posted by soulman

Well when JA gave him that $40 mil contract he had to come up with some plausible excuse for doing it or get ripped a new arsehole by the press at the time. So he began his crusade to make everybody believe Hester had #1 WR talent and what could the coaching staff do but make an attempt at turning him into one.

JA was the boss and he did not like coming away with "egg on his face". If JA would have done less CYA and been more honest with himself as well as his coaching staff we'd have been far better off. I think that's the reason we're seeing such a quantum leap in the talent and depth. JA was not the best personnel guy in the league and if he didn't have Cliff Stein as a cap guru I doubt he would have manged that well either.

Jerry "Slick" Angelo always struck me as a very convincing "poser" when ever he was in the spotlight but I think behind the scenes he'd grown into a "bad joke" and he stepped on his dick big time with those moves he made last summer (talk about risky and questionable, R Will, Gholston, Meriweather?), his two failed attempts to bolster the line, and how he handled both the Kruetz and Forte deals. The game had clearly passed him by and it was time for a change.

Jerry Angelo did step on his dick in a very big way last summer, soul, and it ultimately cost him his job. The writing was on the wall that the team was direly lacking at virtually every major position on the field, yet he felt like he got just enough "serviceable" athletes (as opposed to football players) to come in and hold down the fort to make things interesting for a while. I will never forget that interview on Monday Night Football where Angelo said that the Bears had the pieces in place to go win a Super Bowl, yet they could stop anyone from penetrating their offensive line. When I saw OMG come into the game against Detroit that night, my greatest nightmare came true. Then we went on the five game winning streak, and I thought that our troubles were over. Boy, was I wrong.

The failures of the summer signings came to fruition in late November and into December because of the injuries to Cutler and Forte. We had no depth, and that's because Jerry Angelo didn't provide us with any quality depth. Because of that, and Mike Martz's refusal to utilize the offense's strengths to offset the deficiencies it suddenly had, we wound up not making the playoffs for the fourth time in five years. To me, that was inexcusable and very shortsighted by the arrogance of Jerry Angelo.

Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

Hester has no business working the middle of the field. I've said it before I'll say it again. He hates playing in the tall trees with his head turned away from the D. There's a fear factor playing in there that some guys can handle and some can't . It's not a knock, it just doesn't suit him. He needs to run bombs . Beat a corner and then contend with 1 player- a safety. With more talent on the field around him he should be open more ( or he'll make other guys more open ) - the end result should be more TD's team-wise. Whatever works.

Haha, looks like we agree to disagree again. Once you put Hester out on the end of the field you take away his options and he's neither tall enough or tough enough to fight a CB his same size for the ball. That's the main reason he's never done well at either WR or Flanker. He needs space to work his magic and he only gets that working the middle so he better toughen up. We can run a lot of routes with him that don't require him playing with his back to the D.

We can run slants and crossing routes with him against zones like NE does with Welker and if they try to go man on man with him you can run him up the seam with routes that will force a Safety to cover him or deep outs because Cutler can make that throw all day long. The thing is he's a much better decoy when you play him in the slot or put him in motion because you open up far more options for him than if he's up the sideline somewhere where's he's not as good at making a catch.

At least that's my concept of how to use him. If you make the other guy account for him in the middle of the field where he room to hurt to you with his elusiveness and burst and then throw a TE in there who can also run deep routes you put a lot of pressure on the slowest guys they have to cover him and force the double coverage away from the edge or the dig routes where our big boys will be. He's gonna be a "Safety Killer".

Originally Posted by soulman

Haha, looks like we agree to disagree again. Once you put Hester out on the end of the field you take away his options and he's neither tall enough or tough enough to fight a CB his same size for the ball. That's the main reason he's never done well at either WR or Flanker. He needs space to work his magic and he only gets that working the middle so he better toughen up. We can run a lot of routes with him that don't require him playing with his back to the D.

We can run slants and crossing routes with him against zones like NE does with Welker and if they try to go man on man with him you can run him up the seam with routes that will force a Safety to cover him or deep outs because Cutler can make that throw all day long. The thing is he's a much better decoy when you play him in the slot or put him in motion because you open up far more options for him than if he's up the sideline somewhere where's he's not as good at making a catch.

At least that's my concept of how to use him. If you make the other guy account for him in the middle of the field where he room to hurt to you with his elusiveness and burst and then throw a TE in there who can also run deep routes you put a lot of pressure on the slowest guys they have to cover him and force the double coverage away from the edge or the dig routes where our big boys will be. He's gonna be a "Safety Killer".

Agreed, soul. Hester is definitely best when he's got open space. I can't tell you how many times I have seen Hester run deep routes down the field when Cutler would throw the ball deep and then Hester would either drop the ball because he was going so fast or he was too short to fight off the defending DB. I think he can be a Wes Welker-type of receiver, like you said, only he would have more speed.

I guess this would be what Tice would refer to as the "Hester Ratio" after his ratio of down field passes to Randy Moss back years ago?

Originally Posted by soulman

Haha, looks like we agree to disagree again. Once you put Hester out on the end of the field you take away his options and he's neither tall enough or tough enough to fight a CB his same size for the ball. That's the main reason he's never done well at either WR or Flanker. He needs space to work his magic and he only gets that working the middle so he better toughen up. We can run a lot of routes with him that don't require him playing with his back to the D.

We can run slants and crossing routes with him against zones like NE does with Welker and if they try to go man on man with him you can run him up the seam with routes that will force a Safety to cover him or deep outs because Cutler can make that throw all day long. The thing is he's a much better decoy when you play him in the slot or put him in motion because you open up far more options for him than if he's up the sideline somewhere where's he's not as good at making a catch.

At least that's my concept of how to use him. If you make the other guy account for him in the middle of the field where he room to hurt to you with his elusiveness and burst and then throw a TE in there who can also run deep routes you put a lot of pressure on the slowest guys they have to cover him and force the double coverage away from the edge or the dig routes where our big boys will be. He's gonna be a "Safety Killer".

They'll ignore him cuz they know he get's the dropsies in the middle of the field. If they still put him there then the best we can hope for is a few catches here and there. Hester is never gonna be a difference maker at WR. This theory is wishful thinking.

( I disagee w/ you sometimes Soul but I respect ur knowledge of the game - most of the time ) LOL.

Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

They'll ignore him cuz they know he get's the dropsies in the middle of the field. If they still put him there then the best we can hope for is a few catches here and there. Hester is never gonna be a difference maker at WR. This theory is wishful thinking.

( I disagee w/ you sometimes Soul but I respect ur knowledge of the game - most of the time ) LOL.

Convictions are convictions brother. We both have 'em and we debate them like it should be done. The respect is mutual. If he can't hang on to the ball you're right. He's worthless. But if he can he'll make some DC's pretty nervous trying to figure out where he's going on his routes.

IMHO he was too predictable on the edge. There were too few places for him to go and too few options for him as far as routes to run. You can cover anybody if you take their "game" away and his game was speed. But bump him at the line, or out or bounds, or take away his inside room a slant from the edge and he gets stymied.

JA kept insisting he was a #1 and so they played him like he was but we all know he was never gonna play up to it. But as a #3 and #4 guy in motion or in the slot it's a whole new world of potential effectiveness for him. It could get real exciting to see him get loose with the ball after a short throw and take it to the house. There's nothing that excites us more than watching him leave guys in his wake and from inside I think there are better ways to allow him to do that.

But first things first....he does need to catch the ball.

Jerry Angelo fucked the pooch with most of his assertions, soul, not just with Hester. First of all, he agreed, though begrudingly, to keep Mike Martz on as offensive coordinator of the Bears for a second season. Second, Angelo honestly thought that we had the pieces in place to make a run at a Super Bowl this year and simply dogged it when it came to signing free agents during that brief signing period back last August. Third, and perhaps most damning of all, is that he defended his player personnel decisions and then, THEN, criticized the coaching staff for not doing enough by saying that they were underachieving and were good enough to get the Bears into the Super Bowl. Those three things led him directly to getting fired by the high brass within the Bears organization. We are now much better off for it.