Hester Return thread observations

Devin had a lot of room in front of him on most of those returns. He was able to catch the ball, start to move downfield and see the field in front of him.

Now with the kicking field being shorter, he has people on him faster and he is in traffic right away. He tries to avoid it be going horizontal and backwards, and all he does is lose yardage wheen he does that. He is also not getting that sort of blocking any more.

Still if he had a little room in front of him, I think he could still break some for TD's. The new rule pretty much neutralized him. What a shame. It really is an electrifying part of the game. With his return capabilities handicapped, his worth has really gone down. He really is not much of a WR. Maybe to a team that was creative -- I'd love to see what kind of WR plays that Harbough could draw up for him -- he could have more worth as a WR, but here he is just taking up a WR spot.

Thanks for the vid -- those were some great times!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bearsinhouston

Devin had a lot of room in front of him on most of those returns. He was able to catch the ball, start to move downfield and see the field in front of him.

Now with the kicking field being shorter, he has people on him faster and he is in traffic right away. He tries to avoid it be going horizontal and backwards, and all he does is lose yardage wheen he does that. He is also not getting that sort of blocking any more.

Still if he had a little room in front of him, I think he could still break some for TD's. The new rule pretty much neutralized him. What a shame. It really is an electrifying part of the game. With his return capabilities handicapped, his worth has really gone down. He really is not much of a WR. Maybe to a team that was creative -- I'd love to see what kind of WR plays that Harbough could draw up for him -- he could have more worth as a WR, but here he is just taking up a WR spot.

Thanks for the vid -- those were some great times!

---

You forget the rule outlawing the wedge

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bearsinhouston

Devin had a lot of room in front of him on most of those returns. He was able to catch the ball, start to move downfield and see the field in front of him.

Now with the kicking field being shorter, he has people on him faster and he is in traffic right away. He tries to avoid it be going horizontal and backwards, and all he does is lose yardage wheen he does that. He is also not getting that sort of blocking any more.

Still if he had a little room in front of him, I think he could still break some for TD's. The new rule pretty much neutralized him. What a shame. It really is an electrifying part of the game. With his return capabilities handicapped, his worth has really gone down. He really is not much of a WR. Maybe to a team that was creative -- I'd love to see what kind of WR plays that Harbough could draw up for him -- he could have more worth as a WR, but here he is just taking up a WR spot.

Thanks for the vid -- those were some great times!

---

I don't know if it was the kickoff return rule because he has also not been so electrifying in punt return game either. It looks like he is thinking rather than reacting on returns (also happens when he has drops in the passing game) instead of making one cut and taking off like he used to.

I could be way off base here, but since he has been in the receiving game, his initial moves have been to juke the defensive back that is immediately on him. This could be translating him to think the same way in the return game, which is completely different than playing receiver.

This is a dry year for Hester. Making him a wr and making him less instinctual is a big mistake imo. I'm disappointed in Toub as he's taking his sweet time trying to make Hester only make one move on returns not this east-west stuff we've rarely seen on all of his productive returns.

I'm hoping if Hester is around next year keep him as returner only and I think we'll get the old Hester back.

yeah. really good point. It has maybe changed the way he plays. My son plays soccer and they used to switch him between defense and offense. We talked about strategy a lot. I had to get him understand that you have to play the game completely differently. On defense you can't always attack the guy with the ball. You have to react to what he is doing or you are going to lose protection. On offense, they are trying to react to you. Try to get them to overcommit and then get around them.

Not quite the same thing as switching between O and D, but you do play the game differently in different positions and this needs to be constantly drummed into the players or they stand the risk of blurring the requirements for both positions and being ineffective on both. Of course however you react to your opponent as a WR, when the ball hits you in the hand, you grab it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by inchibearfan

I don't know if it was the kickoff return rule because he has also not been so electrifying in punt return game either. It looks like he is thinking rather than reacting on returns (also happens when he has drops in the passing game) instead of making one cut and taking off like he used to.

I could be way off base here, but since he has been in the receiving game, his initial moves have been to juke the defensive back that is immediately on him. This could be translating him to think the same way in the return game, which is completely different than playing receiver.

---

yeah, you are right. That accounts for a lot of his protection not being there. I don't give it too much credit for opening up holes because for the most part he had daylight in front of him when he caught it because of the difference in field position.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Benjamin

You forget the rule outlawing the wedge

---

Is he still a threat...yes

Has he lost a step...yes

There were a few times this year that were "almost" plays

Hester 3 years ago has 3 tds this year IMO but I do think that plays at wr take a physical toll as well as mental

End the Hester wr project let him just return kicks and find a mid round speed guy or FA this offseason

It's my opinion that if Knox was health Hester wouldn't see much offense