The Chicago Bears came into the 2019 NFL draft without their top two picks. Their 1st round choice went to the Oakland Raiders as part of the Khalil Mack trade. Their 2nd was sent to New England when they moved up for Anthony Miller. So it would be a challenge to find players who could contribute right away. GM Ryan Pace believes they managed to do so anyway, moving up to get David Montgomery in the 3rd round.
It seems rather interesting that the Raiders used the pick they got from Chicago to take a running back as well. Alabama standout Josh Jacobs was the first off the board this year at his position. The general feeling is his mixture of athletic upside and natural vision should make for a true feature back in Jon Gruden’s offense. One would think with such expectations he’d be the heavy favorite to lead all rookies in rushing this year.
Gil Brandt of NFL.com and Hall of Fame executive isn’t so sure. He not only has a high opinion of Montgomery, but also high expectations based on his latest rookie running back projections.
David Montgomery predicted to crush his competition
Brandt has evaluated some all-time great running backs in his lifetime including Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett. So the guy knows what the good ones are supposed to look like. So when he posted his predictions about who the top rookie runners of 2019 will be, he left little doubt. Montgomery ranked 1st, beating out Jacobs by over 300 yards rushing.
Subscribe to the BFR podcast and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
“Montgomery could very well be the latest third-round running back to make a splash as a rookie, following in the footsteps of Alvin Kamara and Kareem Hunt. The Bears paved the way for Montgomery to become a feature back by trading Jordan Howard to the Eagles before the draft.
The Iowa State product rushed for 1,100-plus yards in each of the past two seasons, and if he slides right in and takes up Howard’s old workload (270 touches in 2018), Montgomery should produce like crazy. Montgomery can catch the ball better than I thought, and thus offers a bit more versatility than Howard; he should also be a potent goal-line threat.
He has a chance to really thrive in the offense of Matt Nagy, who was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator in 2017 when Hunt led the NFL with 1,327 rushing yards.”
One season does not make a career. Still, just imagine if the Bears end up with a better running back in Montgomery than the Raiders got in Jacobs despite owning the Bears’ 1st round pick. That would add a little extra sting to the results of the Mack trade to this point.
