More Receptions High Among David Montgomery's Goals
Although run blocking displayed by the Bears last year made judging the rushing effort of David Montgomery difficult, there was one aspect of play where this failed to impact his performance.
This would be as a receiver out of the backfield, and Montgomery didn't exactly shine here either.
Other teams might not look at this with severe scrutiny but one reason the Bears wanted Montgomery was his hands. In fact, it was a reason they even wanted another running back at all. The Bears didn't want Jordan Howard chasing after passes again.
So Montgomery caught 25 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown last year, this after the need for a back with better receiving ability was expressed. It was more than Howard had in his final Bears season. He made 20 receptions in 2018.
However, Montgomery didn't make as many receptions as a rookie as Howard did as a Bears rookie.
Howard made 29 catches in 2015. Howard also averaged more yards per catch, with 298 yards or 10.3 a catch.
Montgomery averaged 7.4 yards a reception and this was supposed to be a strength.
"He did quite a bit of that in college," running backs coach Charles London said. "He has really good hands, and I know he's looking forward to getting out there and showing what he can do in the passing game as well."
London thinks Montgomery is going to improve drastically in his second season and saw improvement as last season went along.
Initially, Montgomery grew a little impatient too soon while waiting for the Bears' run-blocking scheme to develop.
"I think it's just trusting the play," London said. "That's something he and I have talked about a lot, just trusting the play, trusting the process, trusting the blocking scheme and just go out there. He's a very talented runner. He's got great vision. He's got great quickness. Just trust the play.
"At times last year, he didn't trust the play as much, but that's part of being a rookie running back. That's part of an adjustment from playing college football and jumping into the NFL. I know that's one area he wants to greatly improve on."
Montgomery believes he will take a leap forward, and cited a few reasons.
"The chemistry between me and my O-line, the other running backs and the quarterbacks (has) been good," Montgomery said. "Just trying to figure everything out, get closer to each other and learn each other's cues so that we can be on the same page because we need it to be better this year, and it's going to be better this year.
"I'm going to be better this year for this team and this organization. I'm going to come as prepared as ever to lead that running back room the way I need to and be who I need to be for this offense and this team."
Montgomery thinks he'll be a better receiver simply because it's Year 2 in Matt Nagy's offense.
"A year, an entire year of me being in an offense, me not being solely a complete rookie and me going in with the unknown that I don't know any of the offense or me going in with the unknown that I don't know if I'll play or not, me going with the unknown of not knowing if I will get carries or not, or worrying about all the small stuff that doesn't even matter anymore," Montgomery said. "Now I can really get to playing football now because I'm a year in and I'm a lot more confident. I'm ready to go have fun now."
If this starts with receiving a greater number around 35 would be more likely. It's unlikely he'll pile up a huge receiving number as some backs have in this offense, because they have Tarik Cohen to catch passes out of the backfield, as well.
Projecting Montgomery's rushing total for 2020 seems a bit more difficult. With only one year in the league and 889 yards on 242 attempts to go by, it seems only logical the Bears will find a way to spring him more often. After all, he had only two runs of 20 yards or more last year and a better line with a bigger passing threat in the backfield could help open up the running game.
Call it 1,070 yards and 9 rushing TDs.
"Whatever happened, happened. I can't go back and change anything," Montgomery said. "You just take it for what it is and just try to get better, be the best you you can be every day and put your best foot forward and just get better."
Those numbers would be better.
David Montgomery at a Glance
Iowa State RB
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 222
The Key Number: Montgomery averaged 8.7 runs per broken tackle, which ranked him seventh in the NFL as a player who consistently broke tackles.
Chances for 1,000 Yards: 3 on a 1-5 scale with 5 being the most.
2020 Projection: 1,070 yards on 253 attempts, 9 rushing TDs; 35 receptions for 323 yards and 1 TD.
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