A Perfectly Good Waste of Devin Hester
| 15
|
by user BU ICEMAN
Remember Lovie Smith gushing about Devin Hester after he returned 2 kickoffs for TDs against the St. Louis Rams? Allow me to refresh your memory:
It's time we start thinking of Devin Hester as an offensive player.
But alas, Lovie Smith had no plans to utilize Devin Hester on the offensive side of the ball. He clarified his statement by saying that since the Rookie of the Year did not have a special teams category, he meant that Hester should be considered for the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
It would be hard to argue that for this past season, there was a more electrifying player in the NFL than Hester. He was a threat to take the ball to the house on every kick or punt return (provided he caught it). But, what did the Chicago Bears do with this weapon? Let it rot on the bench. Sure, one could argue that while cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher were banged up, the Bears didn't want to complicate Hester's learning the defensive assignments by throwing him in on a few offensive plays, but once they were healthy, that excuse disappeared.
Hester got a total of one offensive play all season. One. Putting Hester on offense for at least a handful of plays a game would have made defensive coordinators all over the league put in overtime to account for him if he popped up. The thing is, the Bears didn't even need to give him the ball! They could have used him simply as a decoy. His mere presence as a threat would force accountability from the defense. Lining him up in the backfield and sending him split-out, sending him on an end-around, or just burning up the field on a fly route would force the defense to open up whenever he was on the field, giving guys like Thomas Jones, Muhsin Muhammad, or Bernard Berrian more room to operate. Now, of course I wouldn't advocate just putting him out there only as a decoy, he should have gotten touches or the opportunity for touches late in the regular season for two reasons: #1, he's a threat whenever the ball is in his hands, #2, it helps establish defensive accountability and makes a decoy role more legitimate if they show that they're willing to try and get him the ball.
It's always good to have some tricks up your sleeve; utilizing Devin Hester for a few offensive plays a game would have given the Bears plenty of tricks. The Bears and Lovie Smith cannot use the excuse that there wasn't enough time to implement Hester into a couple offensive plays or design a couple of plays. Even if you give them a pass on the regular season, they had two opportunities once the regular season was over. They had the entire bye-week during first week of the playoffs and the extra week prior to Super Bowl XLI. In a game where the Bears desperately needed another spark, after they wasted Hester's first spark of a game-opening kickoff return, Hester could have given it to them on the offensive side of the ball.
For as good a coaching job Lovie Smith did this season, he also showed that there is still a lot for him to learn.
He is not a polished player in regards to running routes, which makes him an ineffective reciever. Just because youre fast doesnt mean you become a good reciever.
He can be of decent use as a gadget play guy. But since he is not in on a decent amount of offensive plays, defenses can sniff out a gadget play a mile away when he liens up in the huddle. Leaving to use his pure athletic skill (which is a great) to make a play.