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

For the most part I think we'll see Hester used in the slot or put in motion from now on. Tice will use him to "threaten" mismatches and actually get them. If we move him around a lot we force the other guys to figure out how to account for him and cover him with someone who can do it. Cutler will be looking for him if he gets isolated on a Safety or a NB who can't handle his speed. As a decoy he'll force coverage away from the others.

I think when the refer to it as a "package" they mean the entire play, the whole nine yards is planned around what Hester does either as a receiver, a decoy or a ball carrier. These are plays they don't run without him. Keep him in the middle of the field or in deep seam routes or post routes and he can rip you to pieces with his speed and elusiveness. That's where he needs to be used.

I tend to agree with soul. Hester is a slot-style receiver, much in the same role as someone like Anthony Gonzalez up in Indianapolis. He can work as the fourth or fifth receiver on the field, too, on deep pattern plays. But as an every down receiver in this offense? He just never could figure it out.

Originally Posted by MPBears68

Slot WR is what he should be. Fits his open field skills a lot better than at flanker. It's amazing that armchair fans figured this out long before Martz and JA. That's the only place left for DH to be a contributor outside of ST and the writing is on the wall if he doesn't put up some numbers there since we all know he's not a CB.

Thank God Devin Hester gets his three kick returns a year still. But his kickoff return skills have diminished greatly over the years...maybe not the skills so much as his yards per return. Johnny Knox was a much better kickoff returner than Hester. Where Hester is so good is on punt returns. As soon as his kick return numbers go down, he'll get cut by the Bears or traded.

Originally Posted by MPBears68

Slot WR is what he should be. Fits his open field skills a lot better than at flanker. It's amazing that armchair fans figured this out long before Martz and JA. That's the only place left for DH to be a contributor outside of ST and the writing is on the wall if he doesn't put up some numbers there since we all know he's not a CB.

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.

Originally Posted by Rogelio

Holy crap, I am excited for this team. Now that he is being used correctly, I think it will help Hester's all-around game. He probably won't come close to his career high in receptions, but I bet he tops his career high in receiving TD's (4) really easily. I could see him getting 25 receptions and 8 TD's. He is so lethal if used correctly, and him being in the right spot is going to take attention away from Marshall, or more likely Jeffery. I also thnk him contributing in the passing game will ease his mind and ultimately make him more productive as a returner.

We have a franchise QB throwing to a top 5 receiver, a top 5 RB, a good set of receivers including a rook who has a chance to be a superstar, and we also have an offensive coordinator who actually knows what a football looks like. It's a hell of a long way from Terry O'Shea leading Chad Hutchinson and Justin Gage. Hell, I still wake up in cold sweats thinking about Ron Turner, Brian Griese and Mushin Muhammed. It's good to have an actual offense.

Moose was another great example of JA getting #2 talent and paying a #1 price for it. As a #1 WR Moose was just about as good a con man as JA was as being a top flight GM. JA almost always went just about halfway towards solving a problem. Not only has Emery gone all the way. He's even over the top with a couple of things he's done.