Chicago Bears rookie RB David Montgomery is hardly a sleeper anymore. The third-round pick from Iowa State is in the mix to be the team’s starter for Week 1’s showdown against the Green Bay Packers, and after a standout performance in the preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, he’s been the talk of the NFL.
Longtime scout and recent Hall-of-Fame inductee Gil Brandt polled six NFL executives and asked which of this year’s non-first-round rookies they think has the best chance to make a big impact in 2019 and it was Montgomery who took the top spot.
In Chicago’s preseason opener, Montgomery looked like the second coming of Matt Forte, contributing on the ground (three carries for 16 yards and a score) and through the air (three catches for 30 yards). Montgomery’s all-around skills make him a better fit for Nagy’s offense than Jordan Howard, who ran for a team-high 935 yards last season before being traded to Philadelphia. Montgomery will have every chance to become Chicago’s bell-cow back, with Tarik Cohen and Mike Davis serving as complementary weapons.
Montgomery finished with 46 yards on six touchdowns against the Panthers in a game that was a showcase of his balance, vision and natural feel for the position. It’s still shocking that he slipped all the way to Round 3, considering he put all of those traits — and more — on display week after week as a Cyclone.
The NFL’s blunder is the Bears’ gain. Montgomery, both from a character and talent standpoint, is everything Chicago’s offense needed to make the jump from an above-average group to a potentially top-tier scoring threat.
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