When free agency began in March, receiver Devin Hester wasn’t near the top of anyone’s list. Anyone except the Falcons.
“We’d been talking for a number of years about what we’re going to do with our return specialist situation and what we’re going to do with our receiver group,” G.M. Thomas Dimitroff told PFT Live on Friday. “We thought if we could land a legitimate return guy, both punt and kickoff return, and then mix him into that group of three or four [receivers], that was going to help our production on the offensive side of the ball as well. Our feeling was that with Devin, he is an electric type of player as we all know, and that we truly felt that he still had gas in the tank, he still had the explosiveness, and we saw last night, when he gets in the open space how he creates is something that is unparalleled quite honestly, and it’s fun to watch him.”
So how did the Falcons evaluate a guy’s potential on offense when he hasn’t played much offense lately? Last year with the Bears, Hester didn’t participate in a single snap from scrimmage.
“I’m a big believer in assessing the athleticism, the movement, the ability to start, stop, the body control,” Dimitroff said. “That’s something that there’s no question he has. The fact that he can catch the ball naturally is another big point. And you have an assistant head coach in Terry Robiskie here and [offensive coordinator] Dirk Koetter, who are creative minds. It’s putting him in the right spot to be successful. We all know how important that is and some of the best coaches in this league are able to do that. Know the talent, know their strengths, and accentuate their strengths. . . .
“We’re getting out of him what we wanted and more, no question about it.”
There’s also no question that the 2014 Falcons look to be much better than their 2013 counterparts. For more from Dimitroff, click the box below.