Bears running back David Montgomery has been one of the team’s most reliable weapons, and one of the lone bright spots in what’s been an uninspired offense.
Montgomery has been the primary back since being drafted by the Bears back in 2019, which included logging his first 1,000-yard rushing season in 2020. He was on pace for his second straight before being sidelined for four games with a knee injury. Montgomery finished that 2021 campaign with 225 carries for 849 yards (3.8 YPC) and seven scores. And that was behind a suspect offensive line.
When you look at running back rankings around the NFL, it’s hard to ignore how criminally underrated Montgomery has been among them. For example, Pro Football Focus has Montgomery ranked as the 19th best running back in the league, which seems far too low.
But just so we’re clear, Montgomery sees those rankings, too.
“I take everything personal,” he said. “It’s just like, you see lists; I see them too. Knowing that I definitely have a child on the way puts things in other perspectives as well to tell myself: ‘You gotta go harder. It’s not enough. It never will be enough. And the moment that it is enough, it still won’t be enough.’ I’m out here to not prove anybody wrong but prove stuff right to myself.”
Montgomery will once again be the featured back in Luke Getsy’s offense, which will be a run-heavy scheme. But Montgomery will be sharing the workload with Khalil Herbert, similar to what we’ve seen in Green Bay with Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon.
Montgomery is entering a contract year with the Bears, but it’s something he’s not worried about. He’s going to let it all play out.
“If you know much about me, I’m not really paying too much (attention) about a contract, because I’m a firm believer that God’s gonna take care of whatever he’s supposed to take care of when he’s going to,” he said. “It’s gonna happen when it does.”
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