We don’t know a lot about the Bears new offense under Luke Getsy. But there are a couple of things we do know: Justin Fields will be on the move and it’ll be a run-heavy scheme featuring the tandem of David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert.
Pro Football Focus examined each of the NFL’s running backs rooms heading into the 2022 season. But they didn’t seem to have a lot of faith in the Montgomery and Herbert duo. They landed in the “gets the job done (good starter or good depth)” tier at 16th in the league.
This is the strength of Chicago’s offensive roster, which doesn’t speak super well to the talent put in place around Justin Fields. David Montgomery ranks in the 76th percentile among all qualifying backs in missed tackles forced per rushing attempt and the 85th percentile in missed tackles forced per reception across his first three NFL seasons. The Bears will be looking for him to get back to his 2020 level of play (80.2 PFF grade) next year. This past year’s draft selection Khalil Herbertshowed some promise as a rookie behind Montgomery. His 84.4 rushing grade led all rookies with at least 100 carries.
Montgomery is entering a contract year with the Bears, where he’s proven to be one of their most reliable weapons. Despite missing four games last season, Montgomery had 225 carries for 849 yards (3.8 YPC) and seven scores.
Herbert is coming off an encouraging rookie season, where he stepped in for four games in place of an injured Montgomery. From Weeks 5-8, Herbert rushed for 344 yards, never rushing for less than 72 yards during that span.
This offseason, the Bears added Darrynton Evans and rookie Trestan Ebner, along with fullback Khari Blasingame, where Chicago will be leaning on its run game to take some pressure off Fields.
PFF does acknowledge that running back is the strength of Chicago’s offense. So the fact that they’re ranked among the middle of the pack in that aspect isn’t reassuring for the offense’s expectations as a whole.
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