Hester shows worth as wide receiver for Falcons
Devin Hester’s specialty is returning kicks but even before he signed with the Falcons last off season he told coach Mike Smith he wants some snaps from scrimmage.
Smith agreed that Hester can be an effective wide receiver. Hester showed some offensive ability during Falcons exhibition games and, after some early miscues, did the same in the regular-season opener against the Saints on Sunday.
Hester had five catches for 99 yards with a long of 35 during the Falcons’ 37-34 overtime victory at the Georgia Dome. It was Hester’s first action at wide receiver since the 2012 season because new Bears coach Marc Trestman didn’t give him any offensive snaps last season.
With the Bears, Hester didn’t play with a receiving corps as deep as the Falcons’ group with Julio Jones, Roddy White and Harry Douglas. Smith said adding Hester to that group means opponents will have a tough time accounting for them all when the Falcons spread the field.
“When people try to take away certain assets, he now gets less (coverage) and there is going to be opportunities and he’s going to get the ball,’ Smith said. “When he starts making plays he is going to get (coverage) and the other receivers are going to get looks. And that’s what it’s really about when you have play makers.”
Smith said the Falcons figured Hester wouldn’t get many return opportunities against the Saints and that’s how it turned out: Hester had one punt return for one yard and one kickoff return for 21 yards. Smith said punters are getting better at booming high and long kicks that are difficult to return and the “gunners” who run down to cover punts are also better.
With that being the case, Smith said the Falcons wanted to “create opportunities for (Hester) on offense” against the Saints. Hester played 21 offensive snaps, including 19 passing plays, and was targeted six times by Ryan.
Hester helped scuttle the Falcons’ first possession when he was called for a false start on third-and-six and then couldn’t catch quarterback Matt Ryan’s pass on the next play. Ryan later took the blame for the play but Hester’s reaction suggested he believed he should have corralled the pass after getting a hand on it.
Hester caught each of the other five passes Ryan threw him for gains of 35, 21, 19, 16 and eight yards. Four of the catches went for first downs and the 21-yard reception set up Matt Bryant’s 51-yard field goal that forced overtime.
Former Bears coach Lovie Smith selected Hester in the second round of the 2006 draft and made him a wide receiver as well as a kick returner. But Hester’s playing time on offense decreased each season since 2009 until Smith’s successor, Trestman, didn’t play him there.
“I can’t speak to the coaching staffs he’ s had before,” Smith said. “I know that he is a dynamic kickoff and punt returner and you want to get the ball in his hands because you see how dynamic he can be.”
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