Really, it’s not that Hester has gotten any faster as he’s aged — he was already about as fast as a person could be when he came into the league. His success, rather, is directly attributable to Atlanta’s usage, and their capitalization of his unique skill set. Let’s look at the differences between the plays run for Hester during his 2012 season with the Bears (23 receptions for 242 yards) and thus far in this one, his first season with the Falcons:

No Jump Balls

We don’t think of Hester as being one of the NFL’s tiny speedsters, like Wes Welker or Darren Sproles, but at 5-foot-10, he’s is a lot closer in body type to those guys than he is to wide receivers like Brandon Marshall or Vincent Jackson.

This (comparative) lack of height, of course, is a non-issue for Hester whenever he receives a punt or kickoff, but as a receiver, tight man coverage exposes his inability to use his incomparable speed to his advantage. Defenders immediately crowd Hester’s personal space, and going one-on-one against cornerbacks — who are usually Hester’s size, or even bigger — tends to result in a swatted pass.

On this goal line play from 2012, Hester is lined up on the right side of the formation (on the near side of the screen) and attempts to juke his defender before heading to the back corner of the end zone. Even though the cover man doesn’t do the most disciplined job, Hester is still unable to secure the ball after climbing the ladder:

In this example, Hester is lined up wide left (on the far side of the screen), and simply loses the battle for the ball against an aggressive cornerback:

The Falcons, on the other hand, have been proactive in recognizing when opposing secondaries have played off Hester by hitting him on quick openings, and trusting that he will gain additional yards after the catch. On this play against the New Orleans Saints, Hester lines up in the left slot across from Corey White (No. 24):