Thursday, November 3, 2011

Are the Bears using Devin Hester wrong?

Since Devin Hester exploded on the scene for the Bears they have been trying to figure out ways to get the ball into his hands more.  The answer they came up with was putting him at wide receiver.  Now as am sure most of you remember this for a short time took away from his return duties because they wanted him to be "fresh" on offense.  Now while I will give the coaching staff credit for recognizing the error of their ways and getting Hester back to what he does best I feel that they are still misusing one of the teams most explosive players. The best way I can describe it is akin to a square peg in a round hole.  In recent weeks I have noticed how Hester has improved his route running as well as fighting for balls and finishing routes.  But that is only part of the story.  First At 5-11 he is undersized.  Now I know what you are thinking Steve Smith of the Carolina Panthers is the same height and most corner backs in the league are not much taller then that.  To answer that Steve Smith is a unique individual who is probably in the top 10 if not 5 in the NFL.  While he may not be as fast as Hester (although he is close) He is a much more refined all around player.  Hester is much more dangerous in the open field I'd say but the trick is getting him into that open field (more on that in a bit) Second the go route only works when your quarterback has time to throw it.  No one is mistaking this offensive line with the hogs from the old Washington Redskins teams of the 80's.  So what do you do with him you ask?  I am glad you asked that.  I think the best way to use Hester is the way Da Coach Ditka used Dennis Gentry back in the 80's.  For those of you don't know Dennis Gentry was the return man for the Bears when they went to the Super Bowl.  Now while Gentry was a receiver he was the teams third or forth one.  But like Hester (but not nearly as good) he was dangerous with the ball in his hands so the Bears used him unlike any other receiver.  They would put him in the backfield and give him a draw, they would use him on screen passes (yes I know the Bears use Hester on some receiver screens) the screens they used Gentry on where more commonly used with running backs. They did what they could to get him into space and let him do his thing.  What I am getting at is the Bears do not need to have Hester 15+ yards down field for him to be productive.  Get him in space and let him do his thing.  That can be on a two yard out or a middle screen.  If you look at some of his big plays this year this is what they did.  Let him turn nothing into something.  Let me know what you think and as always BEAR DOWN!

2 comments:

  1. I like the idea. The problem is though he's better than Roy Williams who's your supposed #1 and Knox is slightly better, but your most reliable WR is Eael Bennett Which is why their WR Crop blow.

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  2. I agree with all of your statements. There in lies the problem the Bears have a bunch of 2's and 3's not a number one. But in order to maximize what you can get out of Hester you need to play to his strengths. Whoever the Bears have as their "#1" is not a true 1 anyway so it does not matter who they put into that role. None of the receiving core strikes fear into the opposing defenses from week to week. But this is what we have and what the coaching staff has to do is make the most of it and change the play calling to that. Thanks for your comment I hope you continue to visit and let me know what you think!!!

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