The NFL is an incredibly volatile place to be a running back right now. One day you can be the lead back, and perhaps a star, and the next, you can be a backup, all because of the new philosophy of ‘running backs do not matter’ from NFL teams. It has been employed numerous times at this point. There are many instances when the teams have been proven correct, just take a look in Pittsburgh with Le’Veon Bell and James Conner. Now, in many ways, the Bears are trying to do the same thing as they traded Jordan Howard to the Eagles and looked to the draft to replace his production. That is where Iowa State RB David Montgomery enters the picture.
Montgomery joins Tarik Cohen and Mike Davis in the Chicago Bears backfield, but the camp reports coming out Chicago have been wildly in favor of David Montgomery, who has been breaking tackles and breaking big runs all of camp. It is possible that Montgomery is the next big running back in this league.
RB1 pic.twitter.com/DZ1VDbW1XK
— Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) August 5, 2019
Montgomery’s Beginnings
Back in High School, as an emergent football talent, Montgomery actually was not even a running back. He was a quarterback who ran for over 6,000 yards and 90 touchdowns in his four-year career starting at Mt. Healthy High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was named player of the year in Ohio and in his senior season had 2,707 yards rushing. During that historic record-setting season, Montgomery had three games of over 300 yards rushing and seven where he topped 200 yards.
Unfortunately for Montgomery, his only Power-5 offer came from Iowa State, and he committed there. Other than that, he had multiple MAC offers, but he was largely lightly recruited for the numbers he was putting up at the time. He was on a mission to prove them all wrong after showing out in High School and being ignored.
A star at Iowa State
Montgomery came on as a true freshman at Iowa State and started the final four games, ending up with 563 rushing yards on the season. Each year from there onward, Montgomery would seemingly top his numbers and develop the receiving side of his game. He had 36 receptions for 296 yards in his Sophomore season in addition to a 1,000 yard rushing season and All-Big-12 accolades that were added to his resume.
His Junior year, he would somehow even top that by rushing for over 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns. Montgomery forced 109 missed tackles in his Sophomore season and 102 in his Junior season, both of which led the country. Montgomery arguably had the best contact balance combined with fantastic toughness that makes him so hard to bring down in the open field. Over his two seasons in which he started the whole year, he had over 1,600 yards after contact according to Pro Football Focus. In the PFF College era, he owns the record for most broken tackles on receptions in a season with 48 and the most in a two-year span with 211 forced missed tackles in his final two years at Iowa State.
The standout tape
Montgomery has drawn lots of comparison to new Browns RB Kareem Hunt as people have watched him play. His quickness and contact balance are exactly why he has drawn that comparison. His natural receiving ability and modern RB style of play are also reasons why he has seen those comparisons, and it is an apt comparison.
Montgomery is not necessarily fast, but he is quick and hard to bring down. The Bears are going to use Montgomery in a multitude of ways because of his elusiveness and contact balance. Once you get him in one-on-one situations, he simply does not lose.
His decision making could use some work, which means there is a slight vision concern, but he works off his blockers well and shows off patient footwork. There is a reason why many think he is the next big RB to grace the NFL, and all of that is more than earned.
Montgomery has so far shown he can be great, and now at Bears Training Camp, he is going off once again. Remember the name David Montgomery, because he might just come to terrorize your favorite team’s defense.