DA and QB Depth

[lemonej]

I have no Idea what else DA can do to prove that he should be on the field from the first snap of the game to the end. He and Knox clearly are the Bears best 2 WRs and both should be starting.

 

After seeing Hanie get clobbered on more than one play I can truly say that the one truth about Martz's offense is the QBs get hit a lot and with that being said I am worried about not only Hanie's injury but also if Cutler gets hurt because it was obvious last night that Hanie and LaFevour don't have a firm grasp of this offense and looked shaky at times.

[bowlingtwig]

I have no Idea what else DA can do to prove that he should be on the field from the first snap of the game to the end. He and Knox clearly are the Bears best 2 WRs and both should be starting.

 

After seeing Hanie get clobbered on more than one play I can truly say that the one truth about Martz's offense is the QBs get hit a lot and with that being said I am worried about not only Hanie's injury but also if Cutler gets hurt because it was obvious last night that Hanie and LaFevour don't have a firm grasp of this offense and looked shaky at times.

DA and Knox are a beast and this WR crop as a whole is tons better than most want to give them credit for, but back in there minds they are scared to see what could happen with this offense. I loved what I saw from Cutler but that Oline has got to get tons better. I am glad they decided to let them play almost the entire first half. Hanie started really shaky and then settled down but that INT never should have been thrown and that fumble that he had he should have just protected the ball instead of trying throw it. I can't blame that on Martz's offense, he has got to know better and LeFevour sucks. I hated the drafting of him

[DABEARSDABOMB]

I was so unimpressed with LeFevour. He was warming up on the sidelines and throwing the ball errantly as well. Hanie made a moronic decision, but it happens and they are adjusting.

 

THe thing I liked most was whenever the offense was off on the sidelines, you would see Tice around the whole group of olineman coaching them up, working with them. I also saw him at numerous times chatting it up with Chris Williams. The big thing was, you could just tell that Tice commands respect.

 

DA needs to start. The guy is just a rock and Knox is so much better than Hester it isn't even funny.

[Bears4Ever_34]

If Hester is starting the next preseason game then Lovie Smith needs to check into a mental institution. It's pretty evident that Johnny Knox and DA are our two best WR's. I've said before that DA should be the #1 receiver with Knox on the other side of him and have Hester run the slot. Knox is going to be the next Desean Jackson without the cockiness. He's got elite speed and can get a ton of yards after the catch. DA's big body is able to shield himself away from defenders to get into good position to make a play and we saw that on his TD last night.

[azbearsfan]

If Hester is starting the next preseason game then Lovie Smith needs to check into a mental institution. It's pretty evident that Johnny Knox and DA are our two best WR's. I've said before that DA should be the #1 receiver with Knox on the other side of him and have Hester run the slot. Knox is going to be the next Desean Jackson without the cockiness. He's got elite speed and can get a ton of yards after the catch. DA's big body is able to shield himself away from defenders to get into good position to make a play and we saw that on his TD last night.

 

 

Lovie Smith is not choosing offense starters.

 

"Genius" Martz is.

 

Martz is in charge of everything offense, so criticisms should be directed at him.

[bowlingtwig]

Lovie Smith is not choosing offense starters.

 

"Genius" Martz is.

 

Martz is in charge of everything offense, so criticisms should be directed at him.

For me it doesn't matter who the #1 and #2 guys are because we are going to see so much 3 WR packages and I am sure that Martz will swithc things up so much to get the right personel. Just as long as Knox, DA and Hester are the top 3 I am fine.

[bowlingtwig]

For me it doesn't matter who the #1 and #2 guys are because we are going to see so much 3 WR packages and I am sure that Martz will swithc things up so much to get the right personel. Just as long as Knox, DA and Hester are the top 3 I am fine.

In this next game I would like to see some more TE's that have been doing so great during camp. Davis did well yesterday and using size so well. I am hoping we are able to keep 4 TE's but I know that will be tough.

[lemonej]

In this next game I would like to see some more TE's that have been doing so great during camp. Davis did well yesterday and using size so well. I am hoping we are able to keep 4 TE's but I know that will be tough.

When you mentioned the name Davis I automatically thought you were talking about Rashied but I re-read your post and realize you were talking about Kellen.

Since I brought up Rashied who I wanted gone 2 years ago he is having an outstanding camp and actually had a decent game last night.

[bowlingtwig]

When you mentioned the name Davis I automatically thought you were talking about Rashied but I re-read your post and realize you were talking about Kellen.

Since I brought up Rashied who I wanted gone 2 years ago he is having an outstanding camp and actually had a decent game last night.

Yes I was referring to Kellen, but I have never been a fan of Rashied but he did play well and I have been hearing an awful lot about how Martz likes him.

[nfoligno]

I disagree AZ,

 

Not too long after martz was hired, he said he had watched film and felt Hester would similar to Az Hakim, and that he could be scary good in that role. That role by the way was as a slot WR. Later, a reported asked Lovie, referencing Martz comments, about Hester's role, and Lovie flat said Hester is their starting WR, end of discussion. I think it was one day later when Martz had altered his story and also said Hester was their starting WR.

 

Point is, Lovie didn't defer to Martz then. Why should be believe he would now? Sure, I agree that by and large Martz will have control over the offense, but disagree when you imply Lovie isn't part of the picture. In particular when it comes to Hester, Lovie has shown he is very much part of the picture.

 

Lovie Smith is not choosing offense starters.

 

"Genius" Martz is.

 

Martz is in charge of everything offense, so criticisms should be directed at him.

 

[balta1701-A]

Can anyone tell me why Smith would be so insistent on Hester being a #1 starting WR even if Martz wants him in the slot?

[Lucky Luciano]

Can anyone tell me why Smith would be so insistent on Hester being a #1 starting WR even if Martz wants him in the slot?

 

the fact being that lovie knows nearly nothing of offense (or at least keeps it a secret if he does) speaks volumes on how much influence jerry angelo has on the effect of who is going to start or considered by him to be the premium player at X position due to who angie drafted or which free agent he pursued.

 

example: why else would frank oh-my have been penciled in as starting LG last season and remained so until the media/fan firestorm moved him out? same with pace. can anyone truthfully say either of these players deserved to start there after a game or two?

[balta1701-A]

the fact being that lovie knows nearly nothing of offense (or at least keeps it a secret if he does) speaks volumes on how much influence jerry angelo has on the effect of who is going to start or considered by him to be the premium player at X position due to who angie drafted or which free agent he pursued.

 

example: why else would frank oh-my have been penciled in as starting LG last season and remained so until the media/fan firestorm moved him out? same with pace. can anyone truthfully say either of these players deserved to start there after a game or two?

OK then...what benefit is it to Angelo if Hester is a starter?

[Lucky Luciano]

OK then...what benefit is it to Angelo if Hester is a starter?

 

in my opinion: hester was a high draft pick and one of the few by angelo that actually did something. although... his production in the area of returns has dropped like a rock and if he can't justify hester as a real receiver OR the CB he was drafted to be it appears to the world another poor draft choice.

 

that is major justification by a GM when he has shot so many blanks in past drafts. that was one reason i stated the condition of frank oh-my. he was a highly paid free agent and if he couldn't even break the starting lineup in THIS group of offensive linemen would have certainly made the acquisition of frank at that price questionable to say the least.

[lemonej]

in my opinion: hester was a high draft pick and one of the few by angelo that actually did something. although... his production in the area of returns has dropped like a rock and if he can't justify hester as a real receiver OR the CB he was drafted to be it appears to the world another poor draft choice.

 

that is major justification by a GM when he has shot so many blanks in past drafts. that was one reason i stated the condition of frank oh-my. he was a highly paid free agent and if he couldn't even break the starting lineup in THIS group of offensive linemen would have certainly made the acquisition of frank at that price questionable to say the least.

In the past this team has not forced high draft picks on the field under this regime. This may be more about Hester's contract if you think JA is involved. IMO Hester should have gotten his contract for how valuable he was to changing field position not for his potential as a WR because they had not seen him in that capacity. They just out thought themselves as usual.

[Lucky Luciano]

In the past this team has not forced high draft picks on the field under this regime. This may be more about Hester's contract if you think JA is involved. IMO Hester should have gotten his contract for how valuable he was to changing field position not for his potential as a WR because they had not seen him in that capacity. They just out thought themselves as usual.

 

you could be right about the contract size as a/the factor.

 

but i also believe at this point in angelo's tenure in chicago he is on the firing line and needs to justify at least SOME of his draft picks which have been dismal to say the very least. a GM can't rely on free agency success or failure exclusively in this cap rich era of football to justify his existence.

 

also draft status 'could' account for some of the offensive decisions like how grossman was penciled in as starter for such a long period of time without real competition. same could be said why thomas left and benson stayed or why d. manning was considered a starter at safety when his accomplishments didn't justify his status if one wanted to argue those points. if gilbert remains on this team without a fantastic amount of improvement this season it could also point to draft status rather than talent.

[balta1701-A]

I can't buy that logic at all. No one will give a d*mn who gets the Bears to 13-3 but if someone gets them there then there will be rewards all around. Conversely, if the team struggles to a 7-9 record and misses the postseason, it won't matter if Hester has a 130 reception season; people will lose their jobs as soon as there's a labor agreement.

[bradjock]

Can anyone tell me why Smith would be so insistent on Hester being a #1 starting WR even if Martz wants him in the slot?

 

You have to remember that "starter" is just a title. Just because he's listed as a starter, doesn't mean he'll be out there with the opening offense. Last year Hester was our best WR. Not to mention that aside from Cutler, he's the most recognizable offensive weapon on the team. Not long ago he was a rock star.

 

Not to mention, IMO, Knox is better suited for the slot position.

 

Either way, as Bowling said, all 3 guys are going to see plenty of action.

[nfoligno]

also draft status 'could' account for some of the offensive decisions like how grossman was penciled in as starter for such a long period of time without real competition. same could be said why thomas left and benson stayed or why d. manning was considered a starter at safety when his accomplishments didn't justify his status if one wanted to argue those points. if gilbert remains on this team without a fantastic amount of improvement this season it could also point to draft status rather than talent.

 

In general, isn't this something you see with every team in the NFL? Teams often push and prioritize their draft picks, especially the high ones. Further, higher draft picks are often given more time to develop than lower ones. I am not sure how much we can slam the current staff for this.

 

Grossman- You will find most every team pushing a 1st round pick QB. I was very anti-Grossman, yet at the same time, I am not sure how much we did different from what other teams have done.

 

TJ/Benson - I would say this is absolutely how many teams would have handled this. In fact, TJ benefited from similar in AZ where a veteran (forget his name) outplayed the young TJ, but due to his draft status, TJ kept being used. Especially when talking about a top 10 pick, you have invested so much that you are forced into a situation of pushing that player.

 

DM - Personally, I think this is more Lovie than Angelo. I think Lovie simply loves athletes, and DM is considered one of our top athletes on the defense.

 

Gilbert may not make the team, but it would not surprise me if he did. 3rd round draft picks do not traditionally get cut after one season, especially ones that were considered raw to begin with.

 

I do not always like it, but simply can't rip Angelo too much here as this is something you see with every team in the league.

 

[nfoligno]

I just think there is such a difference between last year and this year.

 

Last year, I think many tend to forget, DA actually was set to start the season as our #3 slot WR, but went down late in camp with an injury. If not for that injury, DA would have started in the slot game one, but due to the injury, Knox got the call, and did well with the opportunity. I believe it took a few weeks, maybe a bit more, for DA to get healthy again, but by that time it was too late. Knox had established himself and earned the right to be on the field.

 

The problem was, Turner just didn't utilize many WRs. He had two starters (Hester and Bennett) and neither were going to be benched in favor of DA at that time. Hester was the coache's golden boy (and you could actually argue we needed some amount of experience out there) with Bennett opposite, and Bennett was playing the #2 role fairly well giving Cutler a reliable target. And then you had Knox stepping in and stepping up in the slot. The only other WR we would have active was Davis, but he was purely a special teams player, and not even given looks on offense.

 

So the real issue was that we simply didn't use more than 3 WRs, and DA's late camp injury knocked him to #4. There just was not a place for him in Turner's WR poor system. Now with Martz, whether DA is the #1 or #4 WR, he is going to get on the field. It looks like he is at least the #3, so I have no doubt he will see plenty of action.

 

I personally still believe DA is best on the outside. I think Knox would be great in the slot, as would Hester, but regardless how it plays out, all three should see plenty of action. Whoever our 4th WR is could see a solid amount of action as well. Hell, with Martz, our 5th WR may see action.

 

Just another example of the huge difference between Martz and Turner.

 

 

You have to remember that "starter" is just a title. Just because he's listed as a starter, doesn't mean he'll be out there with the opening offense. Last year Hester was our best WR. Not to mention that aside from Cutler, he's the most recognizable offensive weapon on the team. Not long ago he was a rock star.

 

Not to mention, IMO, Knox is better suited for the slot position.

 

Either way, as Bowling said, all 3 guys are going to see plenty of action.

 

[Lucky Luciano]

In general, isn't this something you see with every team in the NFL? Teams often push and prioritize their draft picks, especially the high ones. Further, higher draft picks are often given more time to develop than lower ones. I am not sure how much we can slam the current staff for this.

 

sure. the question he asked was "Can anyone tell me why Smith would be so insistent on Hester being a #1 starting WR even if Martz wants him in the slot?". don't you believe it's angelo calling the shots on hester's status/position to the media? or do you think it's lovie?

 

i personally don't think lovie knows enough about offense to force a situation like this with martz (and for that matter i don't think angelo knows much more than lovie but would set the conditions anyway if it helped his agenda).

 

Grossman- You will find most every team pushing a 1st round pick QB. I was very anti-Grossman, yet at the same time, I am not sure how much we did different from what other teams have done.

 

for six years?

 

how long does it take in your estimation to decide whether your qb is a franchise quality player and dependable? was it lovie's or angelo's decision to keep the merry-go-round going for that long?

 

TJ/Benson - I would say this is absolutely how many teams would have handled this. In fact, TJ benefited from similar in AZ where a veteran (forget his name) outplayed the young TJ, but due to his draft status, TJ kept being used. Especially when talking about a top 10 pick, you have invested so much that you are forced into a situation of pushing that player.

 

yes. but again, isn't this a perfect example of what i was talking about?

 

DM - Personally, I think this is more Lovie than Angelo. I think Lovie simply loves athletes, and DM is considered one of our top athletes on the defense.

 

you could be right but didn't angelo just give him a new contract? he must be onboard to at least some degree.

 

Gilbert may not make the team, but it would not surprise me if he did. 3rd round draft picks do not traditionally get cut after one season, especially ones that were considered raw to begin with.

 

it wouldn't surprise me either if he did. but... if he is a walk-on does he even get a second look? if we cut him does any other team jump at the chance to pick him up and put him on their final 53 man roster?

 

I do not always like it, but simply can't rip Angelo too much here as this is something you see with every team in the league.

 

i don't believe i ripped angelo at all. i just explained my theory of why hester may have been pushed ahead of more deserving players for the starting role.

 

angelo is on the hot seat for his job (or at least if this organization was competent he would be). he has failed in the most important duties a GM can perform. he has failed to hire a good coaching staff and has failed over the last 8 years to draft quality ball players to fill his roster. every chance he gets he is wanting to push what few draft picks did turn out whether they deserve it or not just to keep his job. do you disagree with that?

 

 

[nfoligno]

angelo is on the hot seat for his job (or at least if this organization was competent he would be). he has failed in the most important duties a GM can perform. he has failed to hire a good coaching staff and has failed over the last 8 years to draft quality ball players to fill his roster. every chance he gets he is wanting to push what few draft picks did turn out whether they deserve it or not just to keep his job. do you disagree with that?

 

I know there are times when a GM is going to push "his" players, especially higher draft picks. Especially when that GM has a hit/miss record like Angelo's. At the same time, there are a few additional thoughts.

 

One. I think this is far more true for 1st rounders (especially higher 1st rounders) than for later picks, including even 2nd rounders. When you miss on a high pick, it really hurts the team financially. 2nd rounders (and beyond) just are not that expensive. Same logic is true for FAs. Team will push their more expensive FAs often, even if they are not playing well, due to the investment. When a high pick or FA fails, it looks really bad on the GM. It looks bad if a 2nd round pick fails, but not nearly as much.

 

Two. While it may hurt when a draft pick fails at a position, you also have to look at who could be taking that spot. For example, DA is an Angelo find. Thus if DA takes the spot from Hester, does Angelo not get credit for finding DA? If Payne wins the job over DM, does he not get credit for drafting Payne. Again, it is one thing if we are talking about a high draft pick, but otherwise, I am not sure how big the knock on the GM is if another player he added wins the job.

 

Three. At the end of the day, it really is far more about wins and losses. If the team wins with DA and loses with Hester, would it not be in Angelo's best interst for DA to start?

 

I get that Angelo is on the hot seat, but I am not sure I agree that Angelo would be pushing certain players because he believes those players are key to his survival. The true key to his survival is the success of the team.

[lemonej]

sure. the question he asked was "Can anyone tell me why Smith would be so insistent on Hester being a #1 starting WR even if Martz wants him in the slot?". don't you believe it's angelo calling the shots on hester's status/position to the media? or do you think it's lovie?

 

i personally don't think lovie knows enough about offense to force a situation like this with martz (and for that matter i don't think angelo knows much more than lovie but would set the conditions anyway if it helped his agenda).

 

 

 

for six years?

 

how long does it take in your estimation to decide whether your qb is a franchise quality player and dependable? was it lovie's or angelo's decision to keep the merry-go-round going for that long?

 

 

 

yes. but again, isn't this a perfect example of what i was talking about?

 

 

 

you could be right but didn't angelo just give him a new contract? he must be onboard to at least some degree.

 

 

 

it wouldn't surprise me either if he did. but... if he is a walk-on does he even get a second look? if we cut him does any other team jump at the chance to pick him up and put him on their final 53 man roster?

 

 

 

i don't believe i ripped angelo at all. i just explained my theory of why hester may have been pushed ahead of more deserving players for the starting role.

 

angelo is on the hot seat for his job (or at least if this organization was competent he would be). he has failed in the most important duties a GM can perform. he has failed to hire a good coaching staff and has failed over the last 8 years to draft quality ball players to fill his roster. every chance he gets he is wanting to push what few draft picks did turn out whether they deserve it or not just to keep his job. do you disagree with that?

The peception that a defensive oriented coach doesn't know much about offense sounds a little funny to me especially in order to attack an offense you have to know something about it to stop it. Lovie is no different than Tomlin, Cowher, Fox,De Rio, Belechick,Spagnola,Ryan,Singletary and Schwartz when it comes to all in defensive coaches becoming head coaches. The problem with Lovie is he has come full circle since his first year on offensive philosophy. His first offense was run by Terry Shea a renowned QB guru who was a disciple of the Martz style of offense. That didn't work so then he goes to a run first pass maybe offense under Turner with moderate success until the plays became predictable and teams shut it down. Now enters Martz and there is no way he can say "We get off the bus running" because with Martz and Cutler they are going to throw the ball.

 

So I will say that he has to know something about offense in order to have been a successful defensive coordinator but when it comes to sticking to his offensive philosphy he is all over the board. Cowher was no different in the begining of his career and changed OCs like underwear.Most of these guys success is strictly tied to the success of the QB. Where would Belechick be if Bledsoe doesn't get hurt? How did Cowher do when he had O Donnell and Stewart at QB? Tomlin is not coaching the style of defense he coordinated in Minny(Tampa 2) but he does have Big Ben.

[Lucky Luciano]

One. I think this is far more true for 1st rounders (especially higher 1st rounders) than for later picks, including even 2nd rounders. When you miss on a high pick, it really hurts the team financially. 2nd rounders (and beyond) just are not that expensive. Same logic is true for FAs. Team will push their more expensive FAs often, even if they are not playing well, due to the investment. When a high pick or FA fails, it looks really bad on the GM. It looks bad if a 2nd round pick fails, but not nearly as much.

 

of course it is more critical for 1st round picks because that is where the combined lot of the best college talent is funneled into. but i seriously disagree with your contention that 2nd and 3rd round talent doesn't effect the quality of your team AND financially hinder a club in a very big way.

 

if a GM continuously misses drafting quality first day players here are the results.... they have wasted a year to three trying to develop a player that will contribute little or nothing to the goal of winning a superbowl. this means that to acquire a player to now fill this starting roster spot they will either have to draft another OR bring in a free agent whose salary is at the maximum for one of his caliber talent. in the salary cap era this is financial suicide for a club to continuously do this.

 

Two. While it may hurt when a draft pick fails at a position, you also have to look at who could be taking that spot. For example, DA is an Angelo find. Thus if DA takes the spot from Hester, does Angelo not get credit for finding DA? If Payne wins the job over DM, does he not get credit for drafting Payne. Again, it is one thing if we are talking about a high draft pick, but otherwise, I am not sure how big the knock on the GM is if another player he added wins the job.

 

sure he may get credit for bringing free agents into the fold and in fact he has done fairly well at it. but does that NOT emphasise his failure at providing this team with quality players through the draft? that is the financial lifeblood of a franchise.

 

let's look at DA. if angelo hadn't wasted a 2nd round pick on bazuin, d. manning or mark bradley for instance and had chosen a good quality receiver instead would he have even had to? if he didn't pick a receiver in those instances but a quality offensive lineman would we be in the situation we find ourselves at this very moment where we are hoping a 7th round draft pick MAY be good enough to even start at RG (let alone go to a pro-bowl) and not kill our franchise qb? or a safety or a linebacker or a defensive tackle or a defensive end and so on and so on we could have filled numerous roster spots with quality ball players.

 

i realize no GM will hit every player on every draft but when you look at the starting quality player draft record we are faced with we have after 9 first round picks tommy harris and MAYBE chris williams and MAYBE greg olson who nobody would even give us a second round pick for. after 9 second round picks we have charles tillman a #2 CB who was drafted 7 years ago. after 12 third round picks we have lance briggs who was drafted 7 years ago. that is not just bad that is criminally bad.

 

Three. At the end of the day, it really is far more about wins and losses. If the team wins with DA and loses with Hester, would it not be in Angelo's best interst for DA to start?

 

wins and losses relate to the quality starting players you field PLUS the depth behind them and throw in good coaching on top of that (which angelo hasn't provided either). it couldn't be done like the FA skins of the 70's under george allen and it certainly can't be done with exclusive quality FA's in the salary cap era.

 

I get that Angelo is on the hot seat, but I am not sure I agree that Angelo would be pushing certain players because he believes those players are key to his survival. The true key to his survival is the success of the team.

 

1. then you see no need for a GM to draft well to keep his job?

 

2. if you don't agree angelo is pushing certain players like hester who are the key to his GM survial then who do you think is making hesters case and downplaying the only person qualified (martz) to even understand how an offense is run? is it lovie the offensive genius when he isn't the defensive genius who thinks hester is the best WR on our roster? who?

[nfoligno]

Just to point out, I have been one of the biggest Angelo critics. You are preaching to the choir when discussing his weak drafting record, and I would add FA record as well. Heck, I would throw in also the number of players we re-signed that seemed to go downhill soon after. And this does not even touch on his coaching record. No, I have been a high ranking officer in the Angelo sucks club for many years now. Even when we first hired him, I was not a fan, and felt then that Hatley was a better personnel man, but I was blasted because at the time, most fans were simply happy to have a legit GM as opposed to the pathetic structure we had prior.

 

1. then you see no need for a GM to draft well to keep his job?

 

Not what I am saying at all. I am not talking in general, but specific to Angelo and today. IMHO, whether Hester starts or not carries very little weight as to the evaluation of Angelo. If this team sucks this year, IMHO, it would not matter if Hester has a 1,600 yard and 16 TD season. Not even that would save Angelo.

 

2. if you don't agree angelo is pushing certain players like hester who are the key to his GM survial then who do you think is making hesters case and downplaying the only person qualified (martz) to even understand how an offense is run? is it lovie the offensive genius when he isn't the defensive genius who thinks hester is the best WR on our roster? who?

 

I would agree Angelo has in the past pushed for Hester some, but ultimately, I think it is Lovie who is more pushing Hester. When Lovie was asked about Hester, after Martz' comments, he was very quick and decisive to state that Hester is their starter. I am not sure Angelo would have spoken with Lovie about Hester yet at that point in the offseason. Maybe they had spoken in the past, but personnel is fluid each year, and at the end of the day, I simply think it is Lovie who is pushing him. Why? I am not truly sure. But I am not sure Angelo has much more reason to push for Hester than Lovie does. As I said above, I just don't feel Hester is key to Angelo's evaluation, so I don't see Angelo making the big push for him.

 

While Lovie may not have a great grasp of offense, that doesn't mean he doesn't meddle. Remember who was first to make sure fans knew we would still be a run first offense. Lovie. I am not sure if that will really be the case, but Lovie was the one sticking to the "get off the bus running" mantra even after Martz was hired. I doubt that came from Angelo. So despite Lovie not being an offensive background coach, he still meddles on that side of the ball.

 

IMHO, at the end of the day, I do not believe it is as set in stone as some believe that Hester is a lock as a starter. If Hester stunk it up in camp, while DA did well, I think Hester would be moved to the slot. But Hester, by most reports, has had a very good camp. Thus he likely keeps the starting job. I guess my points are (a) Lovie is the one pushing for Hester and ( despite that, if Hester didn't have a good camp, Martz would have the final say and demote Hester.