Devin Hester was almost a Titan

[Sweetness_34 0]

I heard a lot of people say that the Bears reached for Hester and even Manning. I tried to tell them on draft day that, trust me, some team would have picked these guys. The exact same thing happened with Nick Collins last year (people thought GB reached for him and the Ravens said they were going to pick him one pick later). The exact same thing was said about Charles Tillman and Mike Brown too when the Bears got them in the 2nd round.

 

Now read this article where the Titans almost picked him up in the 2nd round (even before the Bears 1st pick), and hopefully some of you will understand that you have no clue about the draft although some of you think you know where the players should be drafted etc etc

 

The same applies about DOnte Whitner and the Bills. Yeah, on the surface it looked like they reached but there are no guarantees that a team like the Lions would not have picked him. If youhave done your scouting well, you should take the player when you can based off your bored, not based off what Kiper or Gosselin or some other hack who has no clue about the draft thinks.

 

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Hope for Hester: Many happy returns

 

April 30, 2006

 

BY LACY J. BANKS Staff Reporter

 

Miami's Devin Hester got a puzzling welcome to the NFL.

 

According to a reliable source, the 5-10, 186-pound speed demon got teased with the most suspenseful telephone call of his life Saturday before the Tennessee Titans changed their minds about drafting Hester and chose talented but controversial USC running back LenDale White with the 45th pick.

 

That left the Bears to select Hester at No. 57 roughly an hour later. They already had selected another defensive back and return specialist, Abilene Christian's Danieal Manning, at No. 42.

 

"Devin is a great player with his hands on the ball as a returner,'' Bears coach Lovie Smith said, "and he will do a good job at the corner position.''

 

Hester, who was impressed by Smith during their personal meeting, sounded like he couldn't be happier to be a Bear.

 

"It's like meeting a girl and [falling in] love at first sight,'' Hester described his first impression of last season's NFL coach of the year. "Just his character and the way he carries himself and the way he opens up to his players. That's the kind of [coach] that a [player] wants. A coach that will open up his heart for a player and make you feel like he's another father figure ... that has a lot to do with the performance of a player.''

 

According to Hester, it might have been predestined that the Titans passed on him.

 

"Going through the draft and everything,'' Hester said, "everybody I talked to in my family said, 'Watch -- Chicago is going to be the team that's going to pick [you] up.' And that's just the team I've been dwelling on and looking forward to [playing for].''

 

An hour earlier, the Titans were making arrangements to fly Hester to Nashville. Like most teams, Tennessee was reluctant to draft White, whose stock had fallen because of concerns about his work ethic and reports that he had failed a drug test. But with one minute left in their limit, the Titans decided to gamble on White and told Hester -- who had been holding on another line -- that they had changed their minds.

 

Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera and college scouting director Greg Gabriel both praised the tremendous speed and athleticism Hester brings to the table. Also a talented sprinter on Miami's track team, Hester clocked 4.43 seconds in the 40-yard dash and has a 38-inch vertical leap. In his three seasons with the Hurricanes, he also saw action at wide receiver (10 catches for 196 yards) in addition to his duties as a nickel back and return specialist.

 

Still, Hester's main contributions, at least early in his career, figure to come in the return game. That area was a nightmare for the Bears last season, when they endured Bobby Wade's chronic dropped punt returns, though Smith said he was pleased with the job Bernard Berrian did after Wade was released.

 

"We wanted to increase speed in our defensive secondary and also improve our return game,'' general manager Jerry Angelo said. "We feel we did that.''

 

lbanks@suntimes.com