Hester big gun in Martz's attack

Lovie Smith is a defensive coach by trade, but even he is looking forward to the new Mike Martz offense featuring a promising group of receivers who flashed big-time production last season and seem poised to take another step in the maturation process.

"As you can see it's a little bit different feel for our offense," Smith said, noting the frequent, pre-snap shifting. "There's a lot more movement. We have a lot of different things that we think we can do using some of our talent offensively. You could see Devin (Hester) in a lot of different roles."

Martz already has big plans for Hester.

"He's our starter," Martz said. "I think he's an elite wide receiver. There's no question about that. We've got all kinds of new things for him. We're moving him all over. You'll see him line up anywhere. Shoot, he might line up as a tight end occasionally. Who knows? We'll see."

Hester and Knox took most of the first-team reps at minicamp with Earl Bennett not yet all the way back following arthroscopic knee surgery. And Martz has seen enough from Devin Aromashodu to want to provide him with a bigger role in the offense.

"Last year at this time Johnny Knox was using a map getting to Halas Hall," Smith said. "Now he feels a lot more comfortable in our offense."

Aromashodu didn't emerge as a weapon until the final four games of last season, and he continues to impress.

"Aromashodu has stepped up quite a bit, significantly," Martz said. "We've moved him into a role now where we're trying to see what he can do getting him the ball a little bit more. Our two starters are terrific players, so we're getting each guy an opportunity to move up and be counted on, to make this team. There's a lot of good things going on out there."

Forget the past: Offensive coordinator Mike Martz doesn't see the point in rehashing the 2009 season with quarterback Jay Cutler, who threw a league-high 26 interceptions, along with 27 TD passes.

"We're not running last year's offense, so it doesn't make much difference to me what they did last year," Martz said. "I could care less. It has no bearing because whatever he's done in the past has no bearing on today for me. It's a clean slate."

Martz preferred to start at Square One with Cutler.

"It started with him how he stands underneath the center, how his hands are, the cadence, like he was a high school quarterback," Martz said. "I've always believed that's what you do. That's how you start, and he's still a very young quarterback. Whatever happened in the past, no matter how good he played, I don't care. It has no bearing on anything today."

Safety first: The secondary, specifically at safety, was expected to remain an area under construction throughout the off-season and into training camp, but the picture there may already be coming into focus.

Danieal Manning and Chris Harris have been the starting safeties in minicamp, although Manning has been at strong safety, even though he's started 37 games at free safety the past four years. Harris has been at free safety, even though he's spent the majority of his six-year career at strong safety.

Manning played free safety and nickel back last season, but 2007 fifth-round draft pick Corey Graham and 2009 fourth-round pick D.J. Moore have been getting most of the reps at nickel with Manning exclusively at safety.

"I'd just kind of go with that right now and let it play out at the nickel position," Lovie Smith said. "We like the potential. We've seen Corey Graham. We know a little bit about what type of player he is. We're excited about seeing D.J. at the nickel position. He has good instinct, great hands. We'll see how he goes."