The running back position was seen as the weak-link on the offensive side for the Bears heading into the 2019 season. After trading running back Jordan Howard to the Philadelphia Eagles and drafting his replacement, did they do enough to improve the position not only for last season, but moving forward?
Here are the grades for each Bears running back for the 2019 season:
David Montgomery: B-
The crown jewel of the Bears 2019 draft class, the third-round selection was billed as the “missing piece” on offense whose skill set was the perfect fit in coach Matt Nagy’s offense. Montgomery’s rookie season, however, didn’t exactly take off like many hoped.
Taking over for Howard, who was traded last offseason, Montgomery struggled to get into a flow early in the season primarily due to his questionable usage, only carrying the ball an average of 12 times through the team’s first six games. When he did get the ball, Montgomery chose to show patience when finding the hole instead of bursting through, which burned him from time to time behind an offensive line ranked 29th in run blocking by Football Outsiders with 3.86 adjusted line yards.
Still, the former Iowa State Cyclone showcased his bruising running ability nearly every carry, refusing to go down on first contact and even carrying multiple defenders for five or more yards. His season was disappointing considering the expectations prior to the season, but a significant amount of blame falls on the play calling and offensive line woes. He finished the season with 242 carries for 889 rushing yards, averaging 3.7 yards per carry (ranked 41st in the NFL among players with 100 carries more).
Tarik Cohen: C-
Aside from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, the skill position player on offense who regressed the most from 2018 to 2019 was Tarik Cohen. A true spark plug in 2018, Cohen’s usage didn’t dip, but his production sure did. His yards per carry on the ground fell from 4.5 to 3.3 and his yards per catch were nearly cut in half, dropping from 10.2 to 5.8. He had 269 fewer receiving yards last season compared to 2018, despite catching eight more passes.
Cohen didn’t seem to have reason being on the field. He was limited to short-yardage gains through the air and his vision was questionable all season, as he ducked out of bounds far too early instead of running upfield. While those statistics and facts are certainly disappointing, his drops were probably most concerning. Cohen led all running backs with nine drops, after only committing one the season before.
As the pass-catching running back on the team, Cohen must bounce back in 2020 if he hopes to stick with the team going forward as he enters the final year of his rookie deal.
Mike Davis: F
Remember the hype surrounding the trio of Montgomery, Cohen and Mike Davis? “Run DMC” couldn’t even muster up a one-hit-wonder as Davis rarely saw the field and was ultimately released prior to Week 10 to help the Bears secure a likely compensatory draft selection in the 2020 NFL draft.
Signed in the offseason to a two-year, $6 million dollar deal last March, Davis fell hard after a career year in Seattle. After rushing five times for 19 yards and catching six passes in the team’s opener against Green Bay, Davis only saw seven touches total for the rest of the season as a Bear. Whether it was ineffectiveness or simply a coaching decision to limit his touches, Davis was the biggest free agent bust of last offseason for the Bears.
Ryan Nall: Incomplete
The preseason darling for the second straight season, Nall finally broke through to the active roster following Davis’ release. Unfortunately, he only saw two touches for eight yards. Tough to grade a player with those stats. Perhaps Nall hangs around to find himself on the roster next season with a better chance to contribute.
