David Montgomery Named SI and PFF Fantasy Value Back

After a disappointing first year, the scene has shifted for David Montgomery and looks more positive for a big year and a chance for fantasy owners to capitalize.

It's looking up for Bears running back David Montgomery, at least in the realm of fantasy football.

First Ben Heisler of Sports Illustrated planted a positive stamp on Montgomery for 2020 as a value pick and an RB25 with a 56 average draft position.

The Bears haven't exactly been fantasy football material in recent years, as Heisler pointed out in his article, calling to mind some of the rankings they had last year at the bottom of the league.

However, after talking about how he got rather sick of hearing about Montgomery last year leading up to the season and how the former Iowa State back disappointed, Heisler then said the conditions are more ripe for Montgomery.

SI also thinks of Tarik Cohen as a back likely to rebound based on past production being better overall than in 2019, and also the presence of Nick Foles at quarterback.

It's almost hard to believe but Pro Football Focus is also finding value in a Chicago Bears player and it's fantasy football value at that.

PFF called Montgomery one of the undervalued fantasy backs for 2020 and assigned him an RB23 consensus rank.

The article points out Montgomery's value as a receiver could increase with  Foles under center, and because Foles is less mobile than Mitchell Trubisky he might be willing to feature Montgomery more as a receiver. PFF pointed out, and it is definitely true, how Darren Sproles became a favorite of Foles' in Philadelphia.

The workload projection is heavy for Montgomery because Ryan Nall is the backup and not experienced. They projected Montgomery to receiver more than 240 touches. He had 267 last year.

Beyond that is the running situation, and Montgomery's ability to break tackles has been his strength. PFF points out he had only five runs of 15 yards or more but the fact he was eighth in forcing missed tackles (47 of them) gives him a chance to pad the number of longer runs in the future.

They didn't mention it but it's hard to envision an offensive line as inept at blocking the run as last year's Bears team so they almost have to get better.

One other problem area must get better, and again it's the line which could help this. It's Montgomery's runs near the goal line. They gave Montgomery 18 carries inside the 5 and got only five touchdowns. That was five of his six TDs on the year.

In all, it was a somewhat complimentary item on Montgomery and definitely good reasons to choose him later in a fantasy draft.

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