Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on November 18, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Was anyone else frustrated when the Bears decreased Devin Hester’s time on special teams and put him into a more prominent role on defense? 

Did anyone think the inevitable and feel that his performance on special teams would suffer?  

We all know what happened after the switch was made: Hester failed to have a punt or kickoff return for a touchdown for over two years, and he didn’t factor much into helping the team get good field position. 

With that, the team suffered and the Bears missed the playoffs.

The Bears did put Hester back on punt returns, for the most part, during his two-year “hiatus” from the end zone. But he just didn’t seem to have the knack for it when he was back there. 

Instead of running north and south, Hester would try to run from sideline to sideline and attempt to create something out of nothing constantly. This hurt the Bears much more than it helped them.

With the hiring of offensive coordinator Mike Martz this offseason, things began to change for Hester. In training camp, we saw Hester used in different ways (on offense), and it wasn’t quite what we had expected out of him. 

Was there a change coming?

We first saw Hester return a kick for a touchdown (after his long drought) in the Green Bay game on Monday night this season.  It was like a breath of fresh air. 

After struggling with it for the first two games of the new season (and not getting a lot of opportunities), Hester finally got back to what he did best.

Hester returned another kick for a touchdown against the Seahawks. Pretty soon it was clear that he had finally gotten back to normal. 

He was the same Hester that we saw tear things up in 2006. The question was, would the coaching staff keep his role on offense the same? Or would they decrease his role there in order to put him back on special teams and have him make things happen?

The answer to that question came in the Vikings game. Even though he didn’t have a return for a touchdown, he had almost 150 yards returning kickoffs and punts that gave the Bears excellent field position throughout. 

His performance really helped the Bears win this game.

It would be silly for the Bears to reverse roles and put him back as a primary wide receiver. They need to put him where he will do the most to help them win and that’s on special teams. 

He can have some spot duty on offense (and he was successful with that during the Vikings game), but his primary role should be on special teams.

Did Hester have what it takes to be a No. 1 wide receiver? After spending his entire college career as a return specialist and cornerback,  Hester had no idea how to play wide receiver. 

Most, if not all, of the successful wide receivers in the NFL (Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Roddy White etc) have been playing the position since their youth.  

Playing the wide receiver position is difficult enough, even if you have been playing it over a long period of time. Imagine taking someone who has never played the position and expecting them to learn about all it’s ins and outs — the route running, how to block down the field, and all the other things that come with playing the position. 

For Hester, it may have been too much.

So let’s hope that the Bears’ coaching staff has finally realized that Hester’s place is on special teams. Not as a full-time wide receiver. 

Taking him out of his role on special teams would clearly be a detriment to the team and to their ability to win football games.

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