Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery was productive in 2023, but Montgomery’s fantasy football outlook could be trending down with fellow running back Jahmyr Gibbs entering his second season.
If you’re looking for fantasy team name ideas using Montgomery’s name, I can’t think of a suitable one right now, and our list of the 800+ best names also doesn’t have one for him.
Regardless, I’ll examine David Montgomery’s fantasy value and determine if he’s worth a draft pick in 2024.
David Montgomery’s Fantasy Profile for the 2024 NFL Season
If you’re looking to build your team with the ZeroRB fantasy football strategy, Montgomery is out of that range as he’s being drafted as the RB21 behind D’Andre Swift and just ahead of Rhamondre Stevenson.
According to TruMedia, Montgomery had 219 carries last season for 1,015 yards and 13 touchdowns. He finished the season as the RB18 despite missing three games. He averaged 14.8 points per game in PPR leagues, which was good enough for RB12.
As the season went on, fellow running back and then-rookie Jahmyr Gibbs began to get more involved. From Week 7 on, Gibbes had double-digit carries in all but two games. He averaged 5.19 yards per carry compared to Montgomery’s 4.63.
Montgomery also got extremely lucky with touchdowns, scoring 13, as mentioned, but scoring at least one in all three games. We did begin to see the yards per carry fluctuate a bit from Week 12 on. He had three games with 4.00 yards per carry or less.
The 13 touchdowns were also an outlier for his career. Before 2023, Montgomery scored 12 touchdowns in 2021 and 2022 combined. He hadn’t gone over 1,000 yards since 2020, and his 4.6 yards per carry was a career-high.
Looking ahead to 2024, chances are Gibbs will get even more work, including in the passing game. As for the offense as a whole, Jared Goff received a massive contract extension, and they’ll also look to get more out of Jameson Williams this season.
The Lions had 29 rush attempts per game, and over their last three games, it went down to 26.7.
The Lions have a Week 5 bye week.
Is David Montgomery a Good Fantasy Pick?
Getting down into that low RB2 range, I’m a bit hesitant about Montgomery. He had a great 2023, but with Gibbs entering his second season, it’s hard to imagine Montgomery getting the same usage. He’s been a steady running back over his career, finishing as an RB2 or better each season, but this is a bit of a different situation.
Before this, Montgomery was the go-to back in Chicago, and he got a lot of run last season with Gibbs as a rookie.
His current ADP is RB21, and there are some guys I think I’d rather take a swing on, like Najee Harris or maybe even Tony Pollard.
If you’re looking for a back-end RB2, though, Montgomery should deliver that, but don’t expect him to exceed his ADP.