In defense of Devin Hester

This season has been a little different for Devin Hester. After shattering return records and elevating himself to an elite level as the best return man in NFL history after only two years, the ride has gotten a bit bumpier.

On many occasions Superman has looked frighteningly human. Fumbling returns, tackled for no gain, losing yards inside his own 10, and even sustaining a rib injury. He just doesn’t seem to be the same guy back there — too much hesitation, too much back and forth and perhaps just flat out trying too hard.

Early on the theory was he was pressing too hard, trying to justify his new contract by taking every return the distance. But as the season has worn on the theories have turned elsewhere:

“There’s only one deduction that make sense: The experiment of turning Hester into a fulltime receiver has failed miserably, and should be scrapped. Maybe then Hester’s rare return magic will return.” (Don Banks, SI.com)

Don Banks of Sports Illustrated is not the only one to propose such a theory. He joins pretty much every color analyst covering Bears games, several writers and radio personalities in Chicago, my occasional Bearscast co-host Mr. Payne and probably most fans.

That’s a lot of people who know a lot about football who think Devin Hester’s additions on offense have not offset the diminished returns on special teams. So with respect to most of those people, allow me to disagree.

Admittedly Hester’s first season as a full time contributor to the offense has not been ideal. He started slow as a WR, still doesn’t have a reception longer than 32 yards and hasn’t seemed like the dynamic and dominant force we all envisioned. But there has been improvement. His production over the last five weeks would put him on pace for about 900 receiving yards in a season, better than Bernard Berrian in 2006 and about on par with what Berrian did in 2007.

Considering he’s only in his second year playing a position that generally takes three years to master at the NFL level. The last two weeks have also shown that the deep strikes are coming as Hester was overthrown twice on passes that should’ve been touchdowns by a rusty backup QB.

Hester is playing a key role in an offense that is now scoring more and passing the ball better – prior to Orton’s injury – than Bears fans had seen since the days of Erik Kramer. Part of that is the fear that Devin creates when he’s lined up out wide. Teams are forced to respect his speed and game-breaking ability and it’d be foolish to think he has not done a lot to open things up for Rashied Davis, Marty Booker and Greg Olsen.

The Titans game also provided a glimpse that the Hester magic is not gone in the return game, as he came the closest he’s been all season to breaking a kickoff and punt return. Teams are doing everything they can to slow him down and he set a pace that was unseen in NFL history his first two years. The law of averages states pretty clearly the opposition was going to catch up with him a bit; the pendulum is just swinging the other way.

When criticizing Hester’s returns, Banks and others have referenced his return average “a mind-boggling 31st in the league in kickoff returns, with a 20.9-yard average and a long gain of 51.” It does sound horrible when you put it like that, but not nearly as bad when you consider Hester’s average last year was only 21.7 yards per kickoff return. The average is down because teams do not treat Hester like a normal kick returner, regularly send kickoffs much higher and shorter to give him less room to work with. The key stat is average starting field position on kickoffs, which is out near the 30 yard-line for the Bears and still among the best in the NFL.

I am not foolish enough to think that his play at WR hasn’t had any effect on his return game. The additional plays and hits have to take something out of him. However, turning Hester into a wide receiver is a long-term investment. It can’t be scrapped after nine games especially as it appears he’s making progress.

I miss the event that was watching Hester return a kick for a TD as much as anyone. It was the most exciting 15 seconds in sports and I should stress that it’s not gone forever. But over the next five years it’ll be more important that Hester turns into a threat at WR. As nice as his returns were, if the Bears don’t see a significant drop in starting field position, they are better off with sustained drives that eat up clock and protect there defense than waiting for lighting to strike.

It’s amazing how sure Bears fans and pundits were just two years ago or a year ago that Hester should be on offense using his gifted return ability to break big plays and revolutionize the Bears offense the way he did the return game. Then when it doesn’t come easily or quickly it needs to be scrapped so the Bears can return to the old safe ways that probably weren’t going to hold up anyway.

2008 has not been the year we all dreamed of for Hester, but it’s all a work in progress. Those looking to get out now are the kind of people who sell stock at its lowest point, right after it plummets. For those brave enough to ride out the storm there are much bigger returns still to come.