More should be less in Chicago's Hester experiment

Chicago coach Lovie Smith plans to have Devin Hester more involved in the Bears' offense this year. In fact, at last week's NFL owners' meetings, Smith said Hester had asked for more turns at wide receiver, with Smith seeing no reason not to grant his request.

Well, I do. Smith risks losing what he has, and what he has is the best return man in the business.

Hester led the Bears with 8 TDs last season and had few touches from scrimmage. (US Presswire)

"We're not going to risk anything special-teams wise," Smith insisted when I brought up the subject. "I know what you're saying, and, yeah, there's a danger. But we're not going to do that.

"We know he's special as a returner, and we're going to try not to mess with that as much as we can. But I still I see him being able to make an impact as a returner (while) giving him a few more reps on the offensive side of the ball."

For Smith's sake, and for the sake of the Bears, I hope he's right. Because if he's not this could be a disaster.

Look, we all know what Chicago has in Hester as a return specialist. What we don't know is how playing more like a full-time wide receiver will affect him. But I know how it could.

It could exhaust him. He could be injured. And it could influence what he does best. But don't take it from me; take it from another NFC special teams coach who has to face Hester during the season.

"There is no question that, as an opponent, you would much prefer to kick the ball to someone who plays a lot more than someone who's more of a part-time player or a specialist," he said. "I don't know what the odds are, but my experience is that guys who play a lot are more apt to fair-catch the ball.

"The quickness isn't the same, and sometimes the speed isn't, either. I don't know, but when guys play a lot on offense or defense they're just not the same."

Hester didn't play a lot on offense last year, but he did play enough to qualify as a weapon. He caught 20 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns and was the deep threat the Bears needed when they rallied to catch Minnesota in the dying minutes of a game they eventually lost.

If you're looking for a wide receiver, Hester is hard to resist. He's fast. He's elusive. And he knows how to find the end zone.

But look what Chicago gained from him last year as a return specialist: He scored a league-high six times, including four by punt returns. His eight TDs led the Bears and were more than full-time stars like Edgerrin James, Steven Jackson and Frank Gore each produced.

More importantly, they were enough to have people question if he's the best returner of all time.