Hester's comments

[Connorbear]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,6113581.story

 

Funny how, since he is having problems this yr, he mentions that he is just 1 of 11 on the field during returns. I don't remember him talking about this when he was wanting a contract extension. I bet his agent never said a word about making sure they take care of the other st players as well.

 

Makes you go hmmmmm.

 

Peace

[AZ54]

He's just another rich whiner these days along with Harris, Urlacher, and Vasher. I hope they keep DManning in on all KR this next game.

[selection7]

To be fair, it'd be tough not to start believing some of the hype around you if people went on and on about how great you are for so long like they did to Hester. But yes, I thought of that too (about how NOW he's just one of 11 guys). But does anyone remember if he used to often complement his blockers (the way RB's usually do)? I don't want to put words in his mouth and I don't remember Hester self-aggrandizing back then in the way that say, a Deon Sanders surely would have.

[akshaz]

C'mon guys. Really? All of the sudden he's bad? Have you guys seen any holes that he's missed? I sure haven't. Are the rest of the guys clearing lanes? I don't think so.

 

I think that Hester is right. You can't just point the finger at him. Do you remember the blocks that he used to get on returns? I have yet to see any of them this year.

 

I know that Toub's unit did great work for us earlier this season as well as the last couple years. But recently, they've left much to be desired. Maynard provides absolutely NO field position advantage; which can definitely impact how opposing teams kick to Hester.

 

There are a lot of factors involved. You just can't look at Hester's contract (which he rightfully earned after a couple seasons of being underpaid) and lack of any TDs and say Hester is lazy, not worth it and worthy of the scorn of the fans.

 

See what happens if we put him on the open market.

[balta1701-A]

Maybe Ayanbadejo really was that important as a blocker.

[DaBearSox]

Maybe Ayanbadejo really was that important as a blocker.

 

might be the winner there...

 

the blame is not all on Hester, but I have to say he does not look like the same returner...other than a few twirls here and there, it seems like he is now running straight forward...

[clnr]

might be the winner there...

 

the blame is not all on Hester, but I have to say he does not look like the same returner...other than a few twirls here and there, it seems like he is now running straight forward...

IMO, I think the fast DE version of Idonije is more missed. He must have lost a step or two when he bulked up to be a DT.

[madlithuanian]

As time goes on, I think that holds a large factor in it...

 

Maybe Ayanbadejo really was that important as a blocker.

[selection7]

C'mon guys. Really? All of the sudden he's bad?

No one made even that argument. So apparently you're missing the OP's point. Most people in fact still think he's a great returner, just not as great as previously hyped, and what's more interesting is the issue of credit. So don't change the subject to defend an argument nobody's making.

 

Back when he was successfull it was all about Hester, but now that he's not, it's "Hey, I'm just one of 11 guys". Of course the latter was true the whole time, but I still want to know if anyone ever remembers Hester giving credit to his blockers back then. If he kept his mouth shut when he was doing well, then he should keep his mouth shut now too.

[AZ54]

Of course it's not all Hester but I have seen holes Hester has missed. There have been opportunities for cutbacks to the weakside of the play like he was doing last year. He has also misread lots of blocks and often runs right into a defender. The last two years Hester's trademark was moving laterally to open seams between defenders and then making a lightning quick cut upfield between them. He's running laterally sometimes but the quick cut upfield is no longer there. More typically he keeps running laterally until he goes out of bounds.

[BigDaddy]

C'mon guys. Really? All of the sudden he's bad? Have you guys seen any holes that he's missed? I sure haven't. Are the rest of the guys clearing lanes? I don't think so.

 

I think that Hester is right. You can't just point the finger at him. Do you remember the blocks that he used to get on returns? I have yet to see any of them this year.

 

I know that Toub's unit did great work for us earlier this season as well as the last couple years. But recently, they've left much to be desired. Maynard provides absolutely NO field position advantage; which can definitely impact how opposing teams kick to Hester.

 

There are a lot of factors involved. You just can't look at Hester's contract (which he rightfully earned after a couple seasons of being underpaid) and lack of any TDs and say Hester is lazy, not worth it and worthy of the scorn of the fans.

 

See what happens if we put him on the open market.

 

What I remember is a guy who was fearless and had a burst of speed that was so rare it often compensated for ANY blocking deficiencies. I remember a guy who saw the entire field and ran to the open areas. Stop all this bullshit about poor devin not getting blocks. thats nonsense. He's scared he's gonna get hurt and all he's doing is getting the ball, looking straight ahead and dropping his head behind the wedge. Either than or he is always finding the short side of the field, making it easier for him to get out of bounds. Yes you can say he's lazy. It might not be completely true but he damn sure isn't overworking himself but most of all, he's scared out there and that is the kiss of death to a KR/PR.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Hester always would say "I got a big hole from my blockers and followed it". Not sure what the big deal is here.

[selection7]

More typically he keeps running laterally until he goes out of bounds.

But has this been because the lanes aren't there to make that quick cut into? Hester used to be able to pull that crazy stuff because his blockers would deliver for him when he'd take a risk.

 

What I remember is a guy who was fearless and had a burst of speed that was so rare it often compensated for ANY blocking deficiencies.

What you remember was hype, and now you (should) know differently. As I said at the time, Hester looked great out there, but what he was doing was nothing earth shattering. He rarely used top speed and he rarely showed Barry Sanders like elusiveness. His vision was great and his sudden quick burst was huge, but he also had great lanes on at least half of his TD's. Without lanes, all that it meaningless...you waste your returner's abilities.

 

In summary, I was right, you were wrong. Time to accept it. The evidence is mounting.

[selection7]

Hester always would say "I got a big hole from my blockers and followed it". Not sure what the big deal is here.

Cool. I don't like to see Hester psyching himself out, so I hope he just chills and has fun out there. Returning kicks/open field running is about feel, so if you try/think too hard, you lose the feel. Also, maybe he'd have had 1 TD now if that guy hadn't horse-collared him.

[akshaz]

No one made even that argument. So apparently you're missing the OP's point. Most people in fact still think he's a great returner, just not as great as previously hyped, and what's more interesting is the issue of credit. So don't change the subject to defend an argument nobody's making.

 

Back when he was successfull it was all about Hester, but now that he's not, it's "Hey, I'm just one of 11 guys". Of course the latter was true the whole time, but I still want to know if anyone ever remembers Hester giving credit to his blockers back then. If he kept his mouth shut when he was doing well, then he should keep his mouth shut now too.

 

My post wasn't a direct response to any particular post, but to a attitude that throws the dude under the bus because he hasn't scored a return TD yet.

 

Yes. I do remember him giving credit to his blockers early on. The kid is much more humble in interviews and in public than he is on the field on Sundays. He always gave credit to his teammates.

 

Also, there has been talk that we shouldn't have re-signed him or he isn't worth his contract. I just believe that sort of dismissive attitude is simply unrealistic and doesn't consider how much he really would command on the open market as a free-agent.

 

Personally, I like the way he has been developing at WR. Of course, I would have loved to see a return TD or two. But, I think those will still come.

[BigDaddy]

My post wasn't a direct response to any particular post, but to a attitude that throws the dude under the bus because he hasn't scored a return TD yet.

 

Yes. I do remember him giving credit to his blockers early on. The kid is much more humble in interviews and in public than he is on the field on Sundays. He always gave credit to his teammates.

 

Also, there has been talk that we shouldn't have re-signed him or he isn't worth his contract. I just believe that sort of dismissive attitude is simply unrealistic and doesn't consider how much he really would command on the open market as a free-agent.

 

Personally, I like the way he has been developing at WR. Of course, I would have loved to see a return TD or two. But, I think those will still come.

 

Because he hasn't returned a TD yet? Hell, our expectations for that went away watching this goofball in preseason. If anyone had any hopes of him scoring a TD after that it has surely gone by the wayside by now. No, what those of us who you think have thrown poor wittle Devin under thus bus are looking for is average for starters. Tell me something, why is it that Manning looks so much better on his returns than Hester does? Why does HE have the burst that Hester used to have? What, they block better for Manning? Look, save yourself the aggravation and stop trying to hang Hester's issues on blocking, or they way teams kick to him, none of that is why he stinks this year. The answer to Hester's problems is staring back at him in the mirror. What's worse is, I think he knows it and knows what he needs to do but his fear is, if he does, he won't be that #1 WR he thought he was going to be. HE has to decide what he wants to be, the greatest return man the games ever seen or a mediocre WR and a slightly below average return man. Now, being ranked #32 in the league, he would have to work his way up to average.

[AZ54]

In summary, I was right, you were wrong. Time to accept it. The evidence is mounting.

 

 

Evidence is mounting? As in no returns for TDs? Or as in Devin crying about his blocking and Deion Sanders backing him up? Or as in Devin gets benched so we can watch Danieal Manning return a kickoff further upfield than any Devin had done in the same game with the same blockers?

[Bears4Ever_34]

IMHO and I hate to say this but, we all know Devin isn't the brightest of guys, and that "Primetime" is his mentor, I think he has shut it down now that he's got his money. The way he is, I don't think it's going to change because he got what he wanted. One guy doesn't make that much of a difference to go from being the greatest of all time to honestly one of the worst. Daniel Manning is gaining major yardage just about everytime he's had the chance. Have you noticed that teams aren't kicking away from Hester anymore? There's a reason for that.

[selection7]

In summary, I was right, you were wrong. Time to accept it. The evidence is mounting.

 

Evidence is mounting? As in no returns for TDs? Or as in Devin crying about his blocking and Deion Sanders backing him up? Or as in Devin gets benched so we can watch Danieal Manning return a kickoff further upfield than any Devin had done in the same game with the same blockers?

Ummmm, yes, actually. Those are good enough examples of my point, though I would add in about the changed personnel in the blocking this season and the excellent returning before Hester ever got here. But what's with the question mark? It sounds like we agree. The only person on this thread that seems to be in denial is BidDaddy. Though let me add that Manning's returns are way too few to draw any conclusion about what other returners are capable of with the same blockers.

 

Still, what we're seeing every week is the combination of worse blocking and finding out that Devin was never the unstoppable god of kick returns he was hyped to be. That's not exactly an insult to Hester. Now he just needs to at least get back to playing like he is capable of playing. If that means he's no longer shattering season records but is still a great returner, so be it. The moral of the story is that the personnel that were blocking for Hester the last couple of years weren't getting nearly the credit (or pay, probably) they deserved. I've been saying it all along, though I was a little quieter at the height of the madness because I couldn't see the point in pissing on everyone's parade. I was helping to throw parades for Tommie Harris back when he was a monster on the Dline and I admit, it was a lot of fun...while it lasted...so I understand.

[flea]

Seriously did anyone actually expect Hester to keep up the pace he was on???

[BigDaddy]

Ummmm, yes, actually. Those are good enough examples of my point, though I would add in about the changed personnel in the blocking this season and the excellent returning before Hester ever got here. But what's with the question mark? It sounds like we agree. The only person on this thread that seems to be in denial is BidDaddy. Though let me add that Manning's returns are way too few to draw any conclusion about what other returners are capable of with the same blockers.

 

Still, what we're seeing every week is the combination of worse blocking and finding out that Devin was never the unstoppable god of kick returns he was hyped to be. That's not exactly an insult to Hester. Now he just needs to at least get back to playing like he is capable of playing. If that means he's no longer shattering season records but is still a great returner, so be it. The moral of the story is that the personnel that were blocking for Hester the last couple of years weren't getting nearly the credit (or pay, probably) they deserved. I've been saying it all along, though I was a little quieter at the height of the madness because I couldn't see the point in pissing on everyone's parade. I was helping to throw parades for Tommie Harris back when he was a monster on the Dline and I admit, it was a lot of fun...while it lasted...so I understand.

 

 

Jesus, talk about denial.

[BearFan2000]

Personally I almost think that he's trying to keep from getting injured in the return game and putting all his effort in to the WR position. It does seem like he is simply doing either one of three things, running straight into the crowd and getting tackled, trying to makes something happen when it's not there and hurting field position, or fair catching inside the 20. There have been numerous times where he'd catch it and head to toward the sideline and get tackled I'd be watching and thinking 3/4 of the field is vacant because everyone is converging on one guy... bounce it back to the open field and turn on the jets. To be fair though that's me watching on TV and looking at the play from a birds eye view and on the field that may not look like a good option.

 

I think that three things are in play here.

1. The blocking isn't as good as it has been

2. Hester isn't giving everything to the return game as he was when he was not a WR.

3. The cat's out of the bag, unlike the Bears other teams do watch film and are doing a better job of containing him.

[BigDaddy]

Personally I almost think that he's trying to keep from getting injured in the return game and putting all his effort in to the WR position. It does seem like he is simply doing either one of three things, running straight into the crowd and getting tackled, trying to makes something happen when it's not there and hurting field position, or fair catching inside the 20. There have been numerous times where he'd catch it and head to toward the sideline and get tackled I'd be watching and thinking 3/4 of the field is vacant because everyone is converging on one guy... bounce it back to the open field and turn on the jets. To be fair though that's me watching on TV and looking at the play from a birds eye view and on the field that may not look like a good option.

 

I think that three things are in play here.

1. The blocking isn't as good as it has been

2. Hester isn't giving everything to the return game as he was when he was not a WR.

3. The cat's out of the bag, unlike the Bears other teams do watch film and are doing a better job of containing him.

 

I'd like to know how many times Devin hester has broken off the ruturn that was called this year and is that why Toub last week was seen pointing his finger at hester and why Manning got the rest of the returns? Blaming his lack of success on blocking is just plain silly. This is not an o line. Toub has been better than exceptional at replacing ST talent. That is his strength. When this is all over, we're going to see that Hester is the problem, not blocking or anything else.