Chicago Bears' Devin Hester - Still "Ridiculous" at Wide Receiver?

"Devin Hester, you are ridiculous!" Watch any number of Devin Hester's amazing kick returns posted on YouTube, and you'll hear an announcer say something on these lines in just about every one.

And now, arguably the most explosive and exciting kick returner to ever play in the NFL is making the transition to wide receiver.

With a 15 yards-per-reception average last season, he might be just as much of a game-breaking wide receiver as he is for kick returns.

But could his kick returning suffer from too much work on offense? Steve Smith made the switch from returner to receiver seamlessly, though the numbers he posted as a returner diminished greatly through that transition.

The Chicago Bears must decide what's more important to them - Hester's talent as a returner, or adding potency to a lackluster offense?

So let's weigh the pros and cons of a full-out switch from KR to WR for Devin Hester:

Pros

If Hester's transition to receiver is as smooth as Bears WR coach Darryl Drake believes it will be, Hester could become the #1 option in a Bears offense that lacks a standout WR after the off-season departures of Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian.

With 20 receptions and 2 touchdowns, Hester's statistics would be stellar if he were a #1 option being thrown the ball between 80 and 100 times in the season. In fact, if the Bears decide to remove him completely from the return game, and give him 80 or so catches, and he'll have more touchdowns as a receiver than he had as a kick returner last season. Even utilizing him as a 2nd option would give him more touchdowns as a receiver at last season's rate of production.

Additionally, teams have already begun to kick away from Hester. Though he's explosive as a returner, it doesn't do much good if he's not returning kicks. The Bears have made a wise choice by giving him some reps at training camp and allowing him to learn the mechanics of receiving should his services as a return man see diminishing value if teams continue to kick away from him.

Cons

In this day and age of game planning to shut down game-breaking players, one could argue that he wouldn't post nearly those statistics if he played as an every-down receiver. Teams would stay in the cover 2 or 3 shell to prevent his speed from becoming a problem.

He's a little shorter than the average NFL receiver, standing at only 5'11", so a cornerback who can jump high would be able to defend passes against him pretty easily.

And let's say, just for the sake of argument, that the Bears have some controversy at the quarterback position. Hester might never find rhythm with any of his torch-carriers if the Bears don't solve their depth chart problems at quarterback.

Also remember that last season, he played wide receiver very sparingly. Running routes for an entire 60-minute game might wear its toll on the Miami University product, and render him less effective over the span of the season. Hester has never carried the load at any position on offense; not in high school, college, and certainly not in the NFL.

So what's the best option for the Bears?

He could be best suited as a slot receiver, behind Mark Bradley and 3^rd round draft choice Earl Bennett out of Vanderbilt. Coach Drake remarked that he hasn't dropped a pass in practice yet, "Not one ball in any of these practices. Not just minicamp -- all of the OTAs. I don't have to tell him anything anymore. He's telling me stuff when I am screwed up. He has taken the time to study it. He has been in my office every day since the beginning." It's clear that he has the hands and agility needed to play in the slot, and his commitment to learning the system and the position haven't gone unnoticed.

As a slot receiver, Hester would be on the field enough to develop him as a wide receiver, but not so much that he'd get tuckered out and exhausted from too much route-running. His value as a returner wouldn't diminish too greatly, and they'd still get some respectable numbers out of him as a receiver.

The only setback to his playing in the slot would be his route running. He still hasn't proven that he's a great route runner, running mostly streak routes in the games he played receiver. He'll have to learn the different routes expected of a slot receiver. He'll also have to learn how to read opposing defenses and find the soft spots in different types of coverage. With all that being said, Hester could be a productive receiver on a part-time basis, but will need to learn the position slowly if he wishes to keep his heralded nickname as the Windy City Flyer.