The Chicago Bears thought they were just about ready to go for the 2020 regular season on offense. They revamped the tight end position, added depth at wide receiver, and established some competition at quarterback. The only position that seemed to give fans and media minor concerns were running back. Outside of David Montgomery, who did they have? Sure enough, just two weeks before the season Montgomery goes down with a groin injury. This is why things got interesting when the Leonard Fournette news hit.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been conducting a firesale of their entire roster in the past few months. Just a day after trading star pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue to the Minnesota Vikings, they waived Fournette. This despite coming off a season in which he had over 1,600 yards from scrimmage. Despite an icy relationship with the organization, it was felt a failure to trade him would compel Jacksonville to just make the best of it. Instead, they chose to just cut their losses.
Now suddenly a 25-year old back with two 1,000-yard seasons in the past three years is available. Montgomery is uncertain for the start of the regular season. Would the Bears be interested at all? Austin Fuglestad of The Brawl Network believes so. While not an insider by any stretch, he claims to have a source at a notable sports channel. One that believes Chicago is definitely in the mix.
Leonard Fournette makes sense if he isn’t a troublemaker
Here’s something to remember. The Bears have more information on Fournette than any other team in the NFL. That’s because John DeFilippo, their quarterbacks coach, was the Jaguars offensive coordinator in 2019. He knows the running back quite well. Not just as a talent but also what makes him tick. Considering Fournette had his best season under DeFilippo? One would think they have strong ties.
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It comes down to whether the Bears are willing to spend the money and willing to take the chance on the man’s character. Fournette has a reputation for being somewhat of a malcontent. The man later defended himself, saying these rumors were coming from his being angry at the constant losing the Jaguars were doing. Then again, given how badly other players wanted out of Jacksonville it’s hard to pain him as the problem.
Fournette is a talented player and somebody who can definitely be that featured back in an offense. Pairing him with David Montgomery could completely change the outlook at running back in Chicago.