Tim Fuller/US PresswireChicago Bears fans will likely see more of the 'Devin Hester Package' in the 2012 season.
Over the past few months, the Chicago Bears have transformed their receiving corps from one of the NFL's shortest to arguably the tallest. They've reunited the key players from the Denver Broncos' dynamic 2008 offense and they've fended off questions -- including some from their quarterback -- about their offensive line. But to me, the most intriguing thing happening in Chicago at the moment is the development of a mysterious package of plays for receiver/kick returner Devin Hester, the latest in a long line of attempts to harness Hester's Hall of Fame speed and skills for their offense.
General manager Phil Emery hinted at the new approach shortly after the draft. Offensive coordinator Mike Tice and receivers coach Darryl Drake offered some morsels to reporters during last weekend's rookie minicamp, and all that's left now is to see if it actually works.
Part of me wants to roll my eyes and cringe, as we did recently on the blog, as the Bears once again refuse to accept what Hester is and isn't -- at least what he hasn't been yet. They remain unsatisfied with him simply being the best kick returner in NFL history. And another part thinks this attempt could prove to be the most productive balance the Bears have tried yet. (Can most of us join you. We have a lot of practice with cringing and rolling our eyes about it too)
"The talent has always been there," Drake told reporters. "It's just a matter of not having him play 70 plays and throw to him twice. Play him 15 [plays], let him touch it 13 [times.] In order for him to be effective, we don't need to have him out there playing that many plays. If he's out there, put the ball in his hands. We need to have that package, and Mike Tice -- I promise you -- he's going to do it."
On the surface, it makes sense. Hester's combination of speed and open-field running ability is rare and awfully tempting to expand on. And when you look at the chart, you see what happens when a team doesn't have or utilize the speed to stretch a defense vertically. The 2011 Bears, for instance, had one of the least efficient short passing games in the NFL last season.
Chicago's Receivers 2011 How the Bears' wide receivers fared on throws of 10 yards or fewer.
NFL Rank
Receptions
80
28th
Catch pct.
55.6
Last
Drop pct.
8.3
Last
1st down pct.
22.9
t-Last
Source: ESPN Stats & Information
But running a full game's worth of pass routes probably takes the edge off Hester's energy in the return game. There is reason to think he could have a similar impact in 15 plays designed to involve him than he could in 70 plays that spread the ball around the field.
That appears to be the starting point for a tweak that appears to have emanated from, or at least endorsed by, Emery himself. (Once again we see the difference between Emery and Angelo who thought because of what he was paying him that Hester should be on the field for 70 snaps)
"I want to make sure that we have a special plan for Devin," Emery said last month. "We have the 'Devin Package' -- packages of plays as a receiver.You never know where he's going to line up. I don't want to get too far ahead of that in terms of letting other people know what we're going to do with him, but he will have a package of plays that we feel can bring out his dynamic ability to the forefront and if not only as carrying or catching the ball, but sometimes that's a decoy.
"Devin's speed vertically is something that has to be accounted for. So if that pulls people from coverage, to handle that vertical ball, you've got other people; we've got some awfully big targets to hit."
On the other hand, of course, it's not as easy as it sounds. You better believe that opposing defenses will notice when Hester is on the field, especially now that the Bears have announced they want to get him the ball often in the relatively brief period of time he plays offense. I don't think it will make teams leave, say, Brandon Marshall wide open to account for Hester, but his appearance isn't going to surprise anyone, either.
The "Hester Package" has already conjured comparisons to the "Randy Ratio" that Tice used after taking over the Minnesota Vikings' head coaching job in 2002. As you might recall, a study of the Vikings' 2001 season showed they won every game they targeted receiver Randy Moss on at least 40 percent of their throws. Tice announced he would make that goal a centerpiece of his offense.
The "Randy Ratio" wasn't a schematic adjustment as much as it was Tice's attempt to cajole the notoriously anti-authoritarian receiver to buy in as a team leader. It backfired on a number of fronts, and Tice himself acknowledged over the weekend that it "came back to bite me in the [rear end]."
Turning serious, Tice said: "Devin is going to be on the field. If he's not on the field, then they should fire me."
That final line speaks to the extent the Bears have prioritized Hester's potential contribution. You know the old saying: If at first you don't succeed, try try again.("Trying" is only gonna work when you start "trying" to do the right things and so far all they've done with Hester is try the wrong ones. This is good! Now that they know what won't work maybe they can finally get around to what does)
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
I think this is a bit more succinct description of what the "Hester Package" is all about than what we've read before. At least it clears up some confusion for me. Based on this I think the WR group will look like this;
Marshall: Plays Split End lined up on the LOS and just grins at 190lb CB's who think they're gonna play bump and run and press coverage to stop him. He's Cutler's number one go-to guy to move the football down the field. He'll catch 70-80 passes this year.
Bennett: Pairs with Bennett as the Flanker on the opposite side of the field. Jay's number two go-to guy and clutch 3rd down receiver. He and Marshall are the best downfield blockers on the team and the two best route runner so they start and #1 and #2.
Jeffery: He'll share time with Bennett probably alternating between the Slot Receiver and Flanker positions. Because he's still struggling with press coverage we want him playing off the LOS which is what the Slot or Flanker usually does. He's still gonna be learning the route tree so I think they'll have a "package" for Jeffrey as well. He'll have routes where his size and reach will allow him to use those to his advantage. Matt Bowen did a great job of outlining this yesterday in an article from NFP I posted. Jeffery is also gonna be a "red zone" menace and I'll bet he scores more TD's than either Marshall or Bennett whose jobs will be to get us downfield to where Jeffery will be most effective.
Hester: Our F-117 Stealth Fighter. Hester finally becomes as much of a weapon on offense as he's always been on ST. Limit his snaps and tell teams you plan to use him when he's out there. Good!! Make them account for him but line his ass up all over the field and get constant mismatches or force them to move a CB in to cover him in the slot and let them run a foot race while you throw underneath to Marshall or Bennett. Get him the ball on short slants in the middle of the field where his speed and elusiveness can turn a 10 yard pass into a 50-60 yard TD. He's an attack aircraft not a cargo plane so use him like one.
That's what I see as the highest likelihood as far as our receiving core is concerned. Share your views.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
With Toub having more pieces for an even BETTER ST this year I hope he is screaming to high heaven to not use Hester on 70+ snaps. With the potential to have his best PR year ever you would want to maximize that game changer, inspire dread in the other team and force the opponent to change their plans. To me that's a key towards winning-make the other guy adjust more to what you are doing than vice versa.
It doesn't take much to shut him down as a wr but as a kr it takes a helluva lot more.
Arguing on the internet is like winning the special olympics, even if you win your still messed up.
I agree with less being better for Hester. Keep him fresh. His body hasn't taken a beating like most players. We'll be able to enjoy that speed of his for at least another 5 years, God willing.
I can see Hester being utilized a lot like Wes Welker, only on a more limited basis. Hester will be given short under routes and he will then have the opportunity to fake the jocks off of opposing defenders and come up with big gains. Hester is not a big guy - we know this - so he will probably be used like that. Welker doesn't go out on the long passes very often (or at least, not so often as I've watched Patriots games). This should make for an interesting spectacle. Hopefully, this will be Hester's most complete season yet.
LOL. What part of VERTICAL don't people understand. This means straight-line speed ..... not underneath routes in the middle of the field. BLah blah blah blah.
What should you call any : Fumble , Hold , Interception , Three and out , or Sack ?
LOL. What part of VERTICAL don't people understand. This means straight-line speed ..... not underneath routes in the middle of the field. BLah blah blah blah.
Blue, that would be the dumbest strategy I could think of to use with Hester. He's not tall enough to simply go up and grab a pass. What they were talking about in the article is lining Hester up in various areas of the field and let him take off and run his routes that way. I say he's going to be running a lot of underneath routes because as far as a guy that would be able to deal with the long routes at the flanker position, he simply cannot do it; he doesn't have that great of hands, and again, as I said before, he's a relatively small guy, so he's not going to out leap any corner or safety in an attempt to jump up and snag a ball. Hester is going to see a lot of underneath passes, some of which will be vertical where he runs in a straight line, turns, catches the football, and either gets tackled or continues chugging down the field, and will serve as a decoy for the bigger receivers (Marshall, Bennett, Jeffery).
Blue, that would be the dumbest strategy I could think of to use with Hester. He's not tall enough to simply go up and grab a pass. What they were talking about in the article is lining Hester up in various areas of the field and let him take off and run his routes that way. I say he's going to be running a lot of underneath routes because as far as a guy that would be able to deal with the long routes at the flanker position, he simply cannot do it; he doesn't have that great of hands, and again, as I said before, he's a relatively small guy, so he's not going to out leap any corner or safety in an attempt to jump up and snag a ball. Hester is going to see a lot of underneath passes, some of which will be vertical where he runs in a straight line, turns, catches the football, and either gets tackled or continues chugging down the field, and will serve as a decoy for the bigger receivers (Marshall, Bennett, Jeffery).
Ok you guys got ur opinions, but Hester has PROVEN that he gets the jitters in the middle of the field and drops passes like crazy. I don't believe he belongs in there as I've said before. Done weighing in on this.
What should you call any : Fumble , Hold , Interception , Three and out , or Sack ?
Ok you guys got ur opinions, but Hester has PROVEN that he gets the jitters in the middle of the field and drops passes like crazy. I don't believe he belongs in there as I've said before. Done weighing in on this.
Jesus, dude, I didn't mean to offend you. All I said was that using him tactically as a strict vertical deep route flanker is stupid because we know from the past that he does not have good hands and is simply too short to overcome the reach of the average corner or safety on the edges when you take into consideration that most defensive backs are about 5'11"-6'0". I think Hester is only 5'10" or 5'11", so he will struggle to go up after a catch.
Jesus, dude, I didn't mean to offend you. All I said was that using him tactically as a strict vertical deep route flanker is stupid because we know from the past that he does not have good hands and is simply too short to overcome the reach of the average corner or safety on the edges when you take into consideration that most defensive backs are about 5'11"-6'0". I think Hester is only 5'10" or 5'11", so he will struggle to go up after a catch.
Exactly, it'd be kinda silly to ONLY utilize him on fade routes. Yeah there will always be that threat and we will use him there but to not take advantage of his ability to make plays in the open field would be ridiculous. Marshall is going to command coverage and give Hester much better match-ups then he's used to. Here's a highlight of him and yes there are hail mary type plays but there's also amazing run after catch plays.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Chicago Bears Report
Tim Fuller/US PresswireChicago Bears fans will likely see more of the 'Devin Hester Package' in the 2012 season.
Reply With Quote
Restore the roar!
Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe 
