It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Hester saw the field in a KR situation where we were down a few points, and not much time on the clock, just to see if he could make something happen.

Hopefully though, Manning will pick up where he left off last year…

by not having a legitmate #1 receiver. Now Hester is the best option for that position and they won’t risk injury to the #1 WR after signing Cutler. Personally, I see no reason he can’t do both if he gets out of his “return funk” of last year, but I don’t see the Bears stepping out like that.

but I think we can move on – there’s always PR’s. Also, why would the bears just announce to the whole league – “hey everyone.. don’t worry about preparing for Hester on KR’s – we’re not going to have him return”? It’s all just talk. Who knows.. maybe game one vs you know who, bears win the toss – a “surprise” kick returner sets up deep, and we get 2009 off with a bang.

The person with the best kick return season in history isn’t even going to return kicks 3 years later?

This is a joke.

don’t think that they have a choice now. I don’t think that he will be able to handle both punts and kickoffs and WR#1 duties. Because of his elusiveness it is better to put him on punt returns and Manning on kickoffs.

Manning style is more look for a seam and hit it hard straight forward. Better suited for kick returns. I love Hester back there for both, but as he tends to be a more side to side try to make people miss person, he is better than Manning would be at the punt returns. He can’t do all three and If anyone had asked me he would have stayed just a special teams ace.

Hopefully he’ll defy the odds and become a standout #1 WR and still return at least 3-4 punts for td this year.

is a great KR guy, probably one of the best ever.
However, if I remember correctly, weren’t a bunch of us all saying that Hester needed to focus more on his WR skills and either focus mainly on that, or be a full time KR and P return man?
I think the team realizes he needs to be a #1 WR for this team going forward. Keep him focused on that, let Daniel Manning take some load off, and just let Hester and Cutler make better chemistry. I think it will benefit him in the long run.
PLus, I know we had good field position when Hester was running them back, but now we have Cutler and a better offense, and won’t have to pray on those 3rd and longs like we always used to do with Orton and Rexy.
It will also help prevent an injury to our #1 WR. potentially.

Manning did great on kickoffs, and Hester is still returning punts (by all accounts so far), so I think this will work out fine. Manning showed some great stuff, Hester is looking good at WR, and I’m excited :-P

Taking Hester off his return game was a huge gamble. It still may pay dividends though as Hester is still a bit of a work in progress. I think taking Hester out of the kick return game might be debated for some time to come. I think Danieal Manning is outstanding as a replacement though. He can fly with the best of them. If Hester turns out to be a top 10 receiver in the next 2 or 3 years, I hope I will be eating my words that is was a mistake. My preference would have been to have him as a third down receiver and to stay where he was at with returns. Of course Hester did some of this to himself by demanding the huge contract. He was being paid too much to simply be a reurn man in the eyes of the organization. Or was he?

This post and these comments, and still no mention of Manning?

“Last year, he [hester] gradually learned the receiving game and finished with 51 catches. Eventually Danieal Manning replaced him returning kickoffs the last four games and has gone on to post the highest career kick return average among active NFL players with at least 40 returns (28.8 yards per return).”

That’s from this Yahoo! Sports article.

Needless to say, that should ease any qualms or fears you might have about the Bears return game next year. You definitely shouldn’t be mad that Hester will be focusing more on making catches than returning the football. We have other guys that can admirably fill in for Hester on the return game. What we don’t have are guys who can step in to Hester’s place at WR and move with the blazing speed he has in and out of cuts.

All in all, I’m liking our offense and special teams. I’m a bit more worried about our defense and especially worried about our defensive backs, most notably our cornerbacks!

All the news outlets are covering this like it was a big story. Hello, McFly!! Hester gave up kickoffs last season. All offseason it has been the plan for Hester to do WR and Punts. Every Bears fans should have known this for forever. How is this any kind of story to anyone? I saw PTI and Sportscenter both cover it like it was breaking news. What???? Wake up people, this is nothing new.

BTW, people on here are acting like without Hester returning kicks we won’t take any to the house. Do you forget that Hester returned 0 in his half and Manning returned 1? Do you forget that Manning was close to breaking a couple more where he got 40 or so yards? Do you not remember that we a very poorly experienced ST’s blocking all year. Most of the guys are back and much better. The return game will get better blocking and Manning is no slouch. He may even be better on KO’s. Dare I say that being a Hester fan. Yes I did. Let Hester be a WR and PR, and relax. Manning is good too!!

He has to much athletic ability to only be used on STs. If he is a more polished route runner, and his hands are a little better he is going to be a threat every single down. He has the speed and quickness to take one all the way at any point in a game, and that’s a valuable thing to have. Teams will also have to double team him which should make it easier for your other WR’s, and even your running game.

Manning was great returning kick-offs last year. Is he as dangerous as Hester? No, but no one is he is arguably the best return man of all time. But like someone pointed out earlier in this post Manning led the league in average yards per kickoff return. Having Hester as a true #1 WR will benefit your team much more then having him as only a return man.