Rising star? Bears' Montgomery suddenly strutting his stuff
The Chicago Bears have been in existence for more than 100 years and have been blessed to have two of the best running backs in the history of the NFL in Walter Payton and Gale Sayers.
But plenty of others have made their mark as well.
There was the sweet, gliding Neal Anderson. The rugged, hard-nosed Rick Casares. The sure-handed Matt Forte. The legendary Red Grange.
And let's not forget bruising, yet capable fullbacks like Matt Suhey, Roland Harper and Ronnie Bull.
Gaining entry to this impressive club is no easy feat.
One must possess remarkable talent, of course, but you also must leave an indelible mark upon the city so that you are remembered for decades to come.
So here's the question: Could David Montgomery one day find himself mentioned in the same company as Anderson and Forte?
For the first year and a half of Montgomery's career such a suggestion would have been ridiculous. Laughable. Downright absurd.
After all, Montgomery finished with a ho-hum total of 889 yards and averaged a pedestrian 3.7 yards per carry as a rookie last season.
Not much changed in 2020, either, as the third-round pick slogged his way to 472 yards and a 3.6 average in the first nine games.
Then something clicked. And in a big way.
After sitting out a 19-13 loss to the Vikings, Montgomery returned with a vengeance, hammering and sprinting his way to 434 yards on 71 carries and another 137 yards on 13 receptions in the last four games.
Suddenly, he's eighth in the NFL with 906 rushing yards and has added 349 yards on 43 catches.
Sure, it's helped that the Bears have faced a few of the league's weaker run defenses, but let's not lose sight of the fact that the offensive line is completely healthy and finally firing on all cylinders.
"They've been working their tails off," Montgomery said after running for a career-high 146 yards on 32 carries in a 33-27 victory over the Vikings last week. "Kudos and hats off to those guys. ... I appreciate those guys for everything that they do and how they come to work."
We all know how important the big guys are to the success of any running back. The all-time greats - Payton, Emmitt Smith, Adrian Peterson, LaDainian Tomlinson, Tony Dorsett, Marshall Faulk, Marcus Allen, Franco Harris and many others - had terrific linemen paving the way and/or were fortunate to play with dynamic QBs and WRs that defenses zeroed in on with great regularity.
Meanwhile, not only has Montgomery been thrown into a mediocre offense but he's also playing for a coach who rarely establishes or sticks with the ground game.
Make no mistake, though: Montgomery's teammates believe he could be a star.
"He wants to be a 1,000-yard back every year," said fellow tailback Cordarrelle Patterson. "The hard work he puts in each and every day, it's crazy, man. He's one of the hardest working guys at his position. ...
"Every time he's out there, just give him the ball. He's gonna make something happen."
Said QB Mitch Trubisky: "You get David in the open field, he's a special back. He's gonna make guys miss, guys are gonna bounce off of him. He runs harder than anyone I've seen in person."
We've seen plenty of this over the last four games, with Montgomery eclipsing 100 yards against the Packers (103), Texans (113) and Vikings (142).
The most obvious example came on the Bears' first play from scrimmage against Houston when Montgomery exploded through a hole and raced 80 yards for a touchdown.
But the Vikings' game is where the 23-year-old really put all his talents on display from beginning to end. He was plowing into defenders for 3, 4, 5 or even 6 extra yards; finding open space by bouncing outside; and showing more patience as plays developed.
His 32 carries were a career high and marked just the second time this season and sixth in his short career that he had more than 20 rushes in one game. His average yards per game in those six contests? Try 103.7.
Montgomery's recent success and exuberance has become infectious. His teammates are feeding off this energy, creating a ripple effect that's helped turn a once-stagnant offense into a true threat every time they're on the field.
It's something that certainly hasn't gone unnoticed by head coach Matt Nagy.
"It's neat for me to have discussions with him and just see his growth as a leader," Nagy said. "He's naturally an introverted person. He also has a funny side to him.
"But what's happening now is with the way he's playing, his leadership skills are coming out through his actions and guys are seeing that. It's a pretty cool growth for him."
A growth that may one day spring him into an elite group of Chicago Bears.
Pretty cool, indeed.
By the numbers
David Montgomery's game-by-game results
Opp. Att.-Yds. Avg. TD
Detroit 13-64 4.9 0
NYG 16-82 5.1 0
Atlanta 14-45 3.2 0
Indy 10-27 2.7 0
TB 10-29 2.9 1
Carolina 19-58 3.1 0
N.O. 21-89 4.2 0
Tenn. 14-30 2.1 0
GB 11-103 9.4 0
Detroit 17-72 4.2 2
Houston 11-103 10.3 1
Minn. 32-146 4.6 2
Totals 202-906 4.5 6
Note: He also has 43 catches for 349 yards and 2 TDs
<b>NFL's leading rushers</b>Name, team Yards
Derrick Henry, Tenn. 1,679
Dalvin Cook, Minn. 1,484
James Robinson, Jax. 1,070
Aaron Jones, GB 968
Alvin Kamara, N.O. 932*
Nick Chubb, Cle. 931
Josh Jacobs, LV. 907
D. Montgomery, BEARS 906
Ronald Jones, TB 900
* Already played this week