HESTER THE BEARS NO. 1 WIDEOUT?
Posted by Mike Florio on June 8, 2008, 11:20 p.m.
Last year, record-setting return man Devin Hester was in the process of shifting from cornerback to receiver. This year, the Bears want him to become the No. 1 option at the position.

Offensive coordinator Ron Turner challenged Hester to get better after his 2007 debut as a pass-catcher.

“I told him if you’re going to make that commitment to try to be the No. 1 receiver, then you’ve got to make that commitment right now and you’ve got to work at it like you do as a return guy,” Turner told Hester at the end of last season. “It’s got to be a full-time commitment, which means you’re going to have to practice full speed all the time so the quarterbacks can get the timing.”

And now Hester supposedly is on track to make it happen.

“He’s accepted all that, and so far through the minicamp and the OTAs, he’s done a great job of learning the position and going out every day and learning all the little intricacies of playing the position,” Turner said. “It’s one thing to know your assignment. It’s another thing to be able to line up and play and adjust to cover-two, cover-three, to press coverage, to the blitz; all the different things you have to do, and so far Devin has stepped up and is doing a great job of that.”

So how good can Hester be?

“He’s a guy that has a burning desire to be the best,” Turner said. “He is driven to be the best at whatever he does, and right now he is driven to be the best receiver in the NFL, and I wouldn’t sell Devin short of accomplishing anything.”

Yikes.

Hester is a wizard with the ball in his hands, and the Bears could make him into a Steve Smith-style presence once he masters the position.

Not bad for a guy who was drafted to return kicks and perhaps play defense.

The only caveat for the Bears? If he excels, they’d better pay him. Hester is signed through 2009, at which time he’d be only a restricted free agent, due to the quirks of the uncapped year.

Even so, we could see another team flooding Hester with cash in order to come up with an offer that the Bears wouldn’t match, even if they tender him at the first-round and third-round level.

That's funny stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:
That's funny stuff.

?

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:
That's funny stuff.

?

I think he's referring to the Bears 2008 offense. I agree.

Now if only they had someone that could throw the football! But one thing is for sure, I'm in favor of anything that shoots his value up!

quote:

Originally posted by BuckeyeArt:

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:
That's funny stuff.

?

I think he's referring to the Bears 2008 offense. I agree.

If it's the Bear's 2008 offense we're laughing at, then sure. But even bad offenses can have good fantasy players. Happens every year. I guess that Atlanta 2007 passing offense was a juggernaut that allowed Roddy White to put up the #'s he did. Or the 2007 Jets passing offense that allowed both Coles and Cotchery to put up nice #'s. Or the vaunted KC passing offense that allowed Tony Gonzalez to put up monster #'s.

And no, I'm not saying Hester is as good as any of those guys. But we've yet to see what Hester can do as a WR. I wouldn't write him off prematurely, though, especially at the cheap price he's coming at right now.

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:
And no, I'm not saying Hester is as good as any of those guys.

That's part of the key. the other is the ability of Grossman to deliver an accurate short pass that allows Hester to work his magic. Bad combination.

quote:

Originally posted by BuckeyeArt:

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:
And no, I'm not saying Hester is as good as any of those guys.

That's part of the key. the other is the ability of Grossman to deliver an accurate short pass that allows Hester to work his magic. Bad combination.

But, I also think Hester COULD be as good as those other guys. The probabilities of that are pretty low, but there's another PR/KR that turned into a pretty good WR by the name of Steve Smith. Definitely the exception to the rule, but I think Hester has more in common with him in terms of ability than someone like Dante Hall. Hall, for example, was used as a WR only on occasion, but Hester may have a crack at having a feature role. He has little competition and the Bears haven't brought anyone in aside from drafting Earl. If he does indeed have the #1 job, he may get a pretty good opportunity and there's no way to tell how much he can do with it. I'm just saying.....

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:
That's funny stuff.

?

I'm laughing at the fact that CHI thinks Hester can be a #1 WR. He couldn't even beat out the two crappy WRs in front of him last year, now they think he's #1 quality?

As for their offense, it will be laughable, especially with Benson on the very of getting kicked out the door.

What are we looking at at this point?
QB- Grossman, WR Hester Booker? Loyd?, RB ??

It went from bad to worse this offseason.

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:
That's funny stuff.

?

I'm laughing at the fact that CHI thinks Hester can be a #1 WR. He couldn't even beat out the two crappy WRs in front of him last year, now they think he's #1 quality?

As for their offense, it will be laughable, especially with Benson on the very of getting kicked out the door.

What are we looking at at this point?
QB- Grossman, WR Hester Booker? Loyd?, RB ??

It went from bad to worse this offseason.

What do you mean he couldn't beat out two crappy WR's last year? He was barely used as a WR bc his main role was as a PR/KR. They only used him on a limited basis because of his limited experience and other major role on the team. Interesting that you laugh at him being able to be a #1 WR when he's never really played the position.

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:
The probabilities of that are pretty low, but there's another PR/KR that turned into a pretty good WR by the name of Steve Smith. Definitely the exception to the rule, but I think Hester has more in common with him in terms of ability than someone like Dante Hall. Hall, for example, was used as a WR only on occasion, but Hester may have a crack at having a feature role.

Steve Smith was already becoming a good receiver while he was becoming a good returner. He had 872 yards in his 2nd year. That's not the case with Hester. I picture him more like Desmond Howard. He'll be remembered more as a returner than a receiver.

quote:

Originally posted by BuckeyeArt:

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:
The probabilities of that are pretty low, but there's another PR/KR that turned into a pretty good WR by the name of Steve Smith. Definitely the exception to the rule, but I think Hester has more in common with him in terms of ability than someone like Dante Hall. Hall, for example, was used as a WR only on occasion, but Hester may have a crack at having a feature role.

Steve Smith was already becoming a good receiver while he was becoming a good returner. He had 872 yards in his 2nd year. That's not the case with Hester. I picture him more like Desmond Howard. He'll be remembered more as a returner than a receiver.

He had 872 yds in his 2nd yr because he was moved to the WR position and used as one in his 2nd year. Hester was not. What's the difference if he's moved there in his 3rd year? Is it not possible for him to put up 872 yds in his 3rd yr even if it's his first time getting a significant opportunity in that role?

I could understand if he's failed at being a WR or speculating that they should use him as one. But, he's yet to fail as one and he is being given the opportunity. How about we wait and see what happens before declaring him a bust?

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:
That's funny stuff.

?

I'm laughing at the fact that CHI thinks Hester can be a #1 WR. He couldn't even beat out the two crappy WRs in front of him last year, now they think he's #1 quality?

As for their offense, it will be laughable, especially with Benson on the very of getting kicked out the door.

What are we looking at at this point?
QB- Grossman, WR Hester Booker? Loyd?, RB ??

It went from bad to worse this offseason.

Other than the fact they did nothing at QB, I don't buy the fact that there offense went from bad to worse really.

If they release Benson as I expect they will at some point in the coming weeks\months, then already to me their offense is better at RB. Heck, I can sit there and do the cha-cha-cha and then run right into the pile too. I think Benson is about to go step in where Ricky Williams left off and fill the spot of being Lenny Kravitz's pot smoking groupie.

At WR, losing Berrian definitely hurts some, but he's not irreplaceable and either. With Forte in the mix at RB, I expect a lot more passes to come out of the backfield now as well as more utilization of the TE positions.

As for Hester, I don't see how anyone can judge what type of offensive player he might be yet. He's had so limited time at the position and practically never practiced at WR last year. I think it will be a fun story to follow this season. There is no doubt that Hester is one of those dynamic, exciting players, who, when touches the ball has the ability to bust a big play each time.

quote:

Originally posted by Astros:


If they release Benson as I expect they will at some point in the coming weeks\months, then already to me their offense is better at RB.

I should have made that MINUTES! Benson is out of there!

So where is this Hester never had a chance stuff coming from? The same time last year CHI was touting how good he was going to be as a WR. He was the #3 all season long. Berian is ave at best and Muhamid was to old about 2 years ago. If Hester had even close to enough talent to be a starting WR he would of at least challenged for more playing time.
I don't how many plays he was actually on the field so I don't don't know exactly how much he was used. As far as any #3 WRs go his #s are certainly near the bottom of the list. Being fast does not make you good.

Astros, do you really think that losing your two starting WRs, promoting your #3 to #1 (who stunk last year), losing your starting RB. Who was cut because of legal troubles is going to improve the offense? Benson was no stud, but without his offield troubles he's still the starting RB. There is a good chance he'll be better than Benson ever was someday, but I don't see it now.
Then again, CHI did draft Benson pretty high (3rd overall was it?). Based on that and the history of CHI RB talent I would say there is a far better chance they blew the Forte pick too.

CHI main concerns this offseason should of been keeping Berrian, adding a quality WR and most importantly replacing Grossman/Orton. Who will amazingly go down as the worst QB platoon the NFL has seen for the 3rd straight season.

As a Packer fan, I love what they've done so far. Not even my buddies (Bear fans) can look at me with a straight face and spin it to anything positive.

I'm not crazy, I'm not about to say the Bears will be good and I as mentioned earlier, the loss of Berrian definitely hurts, but I'm not convinced that he is anything special either. This team is definitely starting over and I think they are absolutely NUTS for not addressing their QB situation in the offseason.

My point is that Forte will be an upgrade at RB and now that Hester is focusing completely on being a WR then I think that is something positive for this offense. Will they be competitive this year, probably not. But giving an athlete like Hester more opportunities to touch the football is only a positive, imo. He is a proven gamebreaker. There are few players that have the potential to take it to the house every time they get the ball and I believe he is one of those players.

Now if you want to call the 38 targets that he had last season to go w/ his 20 receptions for 299 yards a true opportunity then go ahead, but I really don't see how you can say that based on so little data that he was given a true chance. I'll take his 15 yard per catch average last season though.

He was not able to put all of his focus on playing WR last season and beginning this offseason he finally has. This season to me will be a true test even though he doesn't have a QB, we'll still be able to get a feel for what he has the potential to do at WR.

quote:

Originally posted by Astros:
Now if you want to call the 38 targets that he had last season to go w/ his 20 receptions for 299 yards a true opportunity then go ahead, but I really don't see how you can say that based on so little data that he was given a true chance. I'll take his 15 yard per catch average last season though.

His teams have been trying to find a position for him since 2003. I'm a little skeptical he can suddenly "focus his attention" and become an NFL WR, especially without a quality QB. If he couldn't make it as a WR in college, I doubt he'll make it as a #1 WR in the pros.

quote:

Originally posted by Sportz Genius:
So where is this Hester never had a chance stuff coming from? The same time last year CHI was touting how good he was going to be as a WR.

Um, where are you making this stuff up from? They wanted to get him involved as a WR to try it out, but they were NOT converting him to a WR. His primary responsibility was as a PR/KR. Just because he was on the field on a few plays does NOT mean he was the #3 WR nor does it mean he got as little work as he did because he couldn't beat out the guys ahead of him.

Through week 6, he had a total of FIVE targets. Through week 13, his highest # of targets in a game was 4 back in week 7 and he caught 3 of those 4 targets for 41 yds. It wasn't until the very end of the year during the last 4 weeks that he got any type of significant work at WR when he was targeted 18 times those last 4 weeks.

This year, after seeing what he was able to do in limited work as a WR last year, they are actually going to make that his primary position.

Back in 2001, Steve Smith was a PR/KR. He actually went to the Pro Bowl as a PR/KR because that was his position. He also worked in a limited role as a WR and caught 10 balls for 154 yds and 0 TDs. I guess he sucked at WR because his #'s were horrible. Well, the following year they moved him full time to the WR position and he caught 54/872/3 while still maintaining kicking duties. That is what is going on with Hester THIS year. Will he get 54/872/3 in his 1st year as a full-time WR? I doubt it, especially on that pathetic Chicago offense. But saying he's going to fail when this IS his first time as a full-time WR is short-sighted at best.

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:
Back in 2001, Steve Smith was a PR/KR. He actually went to the Pro Bowl as a PR/KR because that was his position. He also worked in a limited role as a WR and caught 10 balls for 154 yds and 0 TDs. I guess he sucked at WR because his #'s were horrible. Well, the following year they moved him full time to the WR position and he caught 54/872/3 while still maintaining kicking duties. That is what is going on with Hester THIS year. Will he get 54/872/3 in his 1st year as a full-time WR? I doubt it, especially on that pathetic Chicago offense. But saying he's going to fail when this IS his first time as a full-time WR is short-sighted at best.

The difference is that Steve Smith actually played WR in college, unlike Hester. They tried him there, as well as DB, RB, and even FB. He just wasn't very good. From DraftScouts, in 2006:

quote:

While few in college could match Hester's speed and equal his return skills, that is his only asset at the moment. He seems to rely too much on his speed to make things happen. He has no knowledge of route-running, nor does he show a desire to learn. Thus, he has bounced from position to position in attempts to find his niche on the field. He is too passive of a tackler and lacks classic wrap-up technique to be an effective man coverage defender, despite his valid feet. For teams looking for a bona fide return man, there might not be a better player on the draft board than Hester. But, if you are looking for more production on offense or defense, this will not be a perfect fit for that team.

quote:

Originally posted by BuckeyeArt:

quote:

Originally posted by gianmarco:
Back in 2001, Steve Smith was a PR/KR. He actually went to the Pro Bowl as a PR/KR because that was his position. He also worked in a limited role as a WR and caught 10 balls for 154 yds and 0 TDs. I guess he sucked at WR because his #'s were horrible. Well, the following year they moved him full time to the WR position and he caught 54/872/3 while still maintaining kicking duties. That is what is going on with Hester THIS year. Will he get 54/872/3 in his 1st year as a full-time WR? I doubt it, especially on that pathetic Chicago offense. But saying he's going to fail when this IS his first time as a full-time WR is short-sighted at best.

The difference is that Steve Smith actually played WR in college, unlike Hester. They tried him there, as well as DB, RB, and even FB. He just wasn't very good. From DraftScouts, in 2006:

quote:

While few in college could match Hester's speed and equal his return skills, that is his only asset at the moment. He seems to rely too much on his speed to make things happen. He has no knowledge of route-running, nor does he show a desire to learn. Thus, he has bounced from position to position in attempts to find his niche on the field. He is too passive of a tackler and lacks classic wrap-up technique to be an effective man coverage defender, despite his valid feet. For teams looking for a bona fide return man, there might not be a better player on the draft board than Hester. But, if you are looking for more production on offense or defense, this will not be a perfect fit for that team.

Absolutely right. And that is definitely something against him and he's going to have to work at it. However, reports are that he IS willing to learn and has shown a desire to do so (which is different, esp. according to that scouting report) and that he is picking it up very well. Whether or not it's fluff remains to be seen, but I think it's a bit too early to write him off. It also seems the Bears are going to give him every chance to do so, and while they are run pretty poorly overall, they are still an NFL organization that has some knowledge of what it takes to put a professional team out on the field.