| 12 February 2010
Mike Martz brings to the Bears an offense that uses three wide receivers as it's base set, a set that relies on having a smaller faster WR playing in the slot. The evidence in this is seen throughout Martz's tenures as an offensive coordinator/head coach where ever he goes. Az-Zahir Hakim in St. Louis was their slot receiver for a while up until the 2001 season. Then Shaun McDonald filled that role in Martz's offense from 2003 to 2008 following Martz from St. Louis to Detroit. Both players fit the same profile as Knox and Hester do for the Bears, 5-10 185-pound mark.
So now Martz comes to Chicago with his offense and there is a small dilemma, between Hester and Knox which player better fits the role of slot wide receiver?
The automatic assumption is that Devin Hester fits into that role the best, and Martz himself has stated that he can't wait to see Hester in that role creating match up problems against nickel backs and safeties or even a LB. Hester's speed and agility in the open field fits that profile of ideal slot receiver.
Hester can attack the defense in space against slower defenders, on crossing routes, quick come back routes and then turning it up the field, or simply just blowing past the defender on a nine route. Hester can do all of that because of his strength is operating in space. Martz stated in an interview on 670 WSCR radio in Chicago,
"Devin Hester in that role (the slot receiver) could just be stupid good, if that makes sense to you. What we can do with him inside, the match ups we can get with him on third corners, safeties and linebackers would be absolutely remarkable."
But then we come back to Johnny Knox who showed up as a rookie to be every bit as good as Hester as a wide receiver. He fits that role as well, quickness in space, speed down the field and he was arguably every bit as consistent as Hester was, only he did so as a rookie.
Add to it that most NFL rookies experience their biggest jump in production and understanding of the game from their first year to their second and the likelihood is that Knox will be even better in year two than year one. The often used cliche "the game slows down for them from year one to year two" fits into the argument for making Knox the starting slot receiver. Knox could be better than Hester in year two, than Hester might ever be simply because Knox hasn't his full potential.
Hester on the other hand looks like he's not going to get much better or productive. That's not to say that he won't be productive enough, I feel he's capable of being a 1,000-yard multiple touchdown threat at receiver. Knox however is far more comfortable at receiver given it's a position he's played consistently and knows all of the subtle nuances that Hester hasn't yet picked up on.
But beyond the debate of who is the better receiver, we come to wanting to get Devin Hester back into his best and most productive role ever, a dangerous threat in the return game. Since taking on the role of wide receiver Hester's return game ability has suffered mightily having ZERO touchdowns in the return game the last two seasons.
It may be a simple matter of getting Hester back to doing what he does best, punt returns and then if he shows that productive ability again moving him back to being the primary kick off returner. As you may recall Hester started out as the Bears primary punt return specialist and then when he showed to be so dominant there, the Bears shifted him to kick offs where Hester exploded for touchdowns there as well. That dual role suited Hester quite well and may again, provided he isn't on the field focusing on being a receiver.
Here in lies the dilemma with the Martz base offense set, the three receiver set. Where as in the Ron Turner offense the Bears ran two receiver sets with two TEs or a FB with two receivers, the third receiver was a back up and didn't get as many snaps, it's different now. Martz's offense will call upon Hester to essentially still fill the role as a starter, getting as many game reps as the team's "third" wide receiver as he would if he were the first or second receiver in Turner's offense.
Finally Hester himself stated that he wants to get back to what he has done best, focusing more on the return game. Hester stated in an interview with ESPN radio 1000 here in Chicago,
"I know what I'm best at, the return game is my bread and butter. So if I had to cut back on my receiving and go back to returning, that's something I would love to do."
So now the question is who ends up filling that slot receiver role? Do we want to give Johnny Knox that role to operate in space because he's every bit as fast as Hester, and projects as a better overall wide receiver? Do we allow Hester to focus more on special teams and be the fourth receiver off the bench so that his offensive snaps are limited so that he's able to get back to being the best return man in the NFL?
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