A stance that may upset the “no aging veterans” side of Buccaneers fans, with the Donteea Dye news, it’s time for the Buccaneers to give Devin Hester a call.
Donteea Dye was placed on the waived/injured list yesterday, creating a hole that the Buccaneers thought they already had filled. Unfortunately for the Bucs, the kick return game is now a glaring hole that needs to be addressed before kickoff in a mere twelve days.
In the preseason, Dye had four returns for 101 yards, a 25.25 yards per return average. He took over after one kick return by Kenny Bell that resulted in a fumble on the very first play of the very first preseason game. For a guy already on the bubble, Bell won’t be making this team on his return merits. You had rookie Ryan Smith return one for 19 yards, and Bernard Reedy return two for 39 yards, a 19.5 yards per return average.
No one is impressed.
Devin Hester is arguably the greatest return man in NFL history – I’d still choose Deion Sanders, despite having fewer touchdowns – and is still available. He falls into the Roddy White category where we figured he wouldn’t end up on a team until the end of camp and/or due to injury. Well, we’re nearing the end of camp and the Bucs suffered an injury.
Let’s look at Hester in just his last two seasons with Atlanta. Forget Chicago. As electric as he still can be, he’s not that player anymore. His Chicago days skews the view of the player he is now. With Atlanta, Hester returned 54 kickoffs for 1363 yards, a 25.2 yards per return average. No, he didn’t score any touchdowns, but that’s even more rare in today’s NFL than it used to be.
What about punts? Adam Humphries has done a stellar job this preseason and as you all know, he had a 73 yard return for a touchdown against the Browns last week. However, with the talent and depth at wide receiver being so paper thin, do you really want to risk our third receiver to getting blown up on a punt return by some streaking linebacker? I don’t. I understand the talent level he brings to the return game, but they don’t call it the suicide squad for nothing.
Hester – again, in Atlanta, not Chicago – returned 26 punts for 274 yards, a 10.5 yards per return average, and a touchdown that all Bucs fans remember. It was against us, on national television, and it broke the return touchdown record.
It would make a lot of sense to bring in a guy that specializes in these things. After Mike Evans, Vincent Jackson, and Humphries, what do the Bucs have? Kenny Bell? He’s probably gone. Johnathan Krause? Not impressed. Reedy? Spencer? None of these guys have shown anything in pads or in games – against backups and guys on the bubble, mind you – that shows why they’d be worthy of the number three receiver spot, which is what the Bucs would be relegated to relying on if Humphries gets hurt on a return.
There’s the chance Koetter and Licht see someone on another team that they’ll go after on waivers or a player they could pick off a practice squad somewhere, but Hester makes too much sense to ignore at this point. Don’t risk Humphries as a receiver and don’t award Bell a roster spot he hasn’t earned based on Dye’s injury.
Next: The Time Has Come For Bucs' Defense
Devin Hester can still get the job done and it isn’t going to cost a lot of money to pull off. Licht needs to start making some phone calls…