David Montgomery has been putting in work this offseason, with impressive results. The second-year running back for the Chicago Bears has been working on his footwork with Rashad Whitfield — AKA the Footwork King — this offseason, and now that weights and measurements have been taken, it looks like we could be seeing a slightly more shifty, stronger rusher when Montgomery takes the field this season.
Montgomery weighed in at 222 pounds upon entering training camp this year, and he now has just 8 percent body fat. Last year, as a rookie entering the league, Montgomery weighed 223 pounds and had 12 percent body fat. He managed to lose a pound while also whittling four percent of his body fat away, which could be huge for this Bears’ offense.
David Montgomery is weighing in this season at 222lbs and 8% bodyfat. This is a major improvement from last year where he was 223lbs and 12% BF. Expect a stronger and faster RB this season
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Montgomery Won’t Start Slow Out of the Gate This Year
Unlike last year, Montgomery is expected to carry the load this year. He sat behind Tarik Cohen for awhile last season, and he had a bit of a slow start. In the first game of the year against Green Bay, he had just six carries and one reception. It got better for the most part after that, but Montgomery never got more than 23 carries in a single game all year. That will very likely change in 2020.
Being the team’s feature back will spell more carries, more catches and infinitely more opportunities to shine — which bodes well for a running attack that was among the league’s worst in 2019.
In his first full season of work, Montgomery had 242 attempts for 889 yards and six touchdowns. He averaged 3.7 yards per carry, and if he stays healthy, that specific stat could jump quite a bit. His entire stat line could.
Montgomery Was Underrated in One Sneakily Important Stat Last Year…
Montgomery was fourth in the league in broken tackles as a rookie — something he was well-known for doing in college. After adding strength and working on his footwork this offseason, it’s reasonable to assume he could be in for a breakout sophomore season. It could also help the offense in other ways.
Running backs coach Charles London recently praised a different aspect of Montgomery’s game: his blocking.
“Really for a rookie to come in and play, this is tough, but he played a lot for us in third down and pass protection roles,” London said about Montgomery. “I think he really excelled there. I think that gets lost in the shuffle sometimes. Everybody focuses on how many rushes he had, how many receiving yards or receptions he had, but he was one of the top backs in the league as far as pass protection goes on third downs.”
Now, with a year of experience and loads of offseason work under his belt, the 23-year-old running back is ready to make his mark while making defenses pay — and that should result in a boost for this Bears offense.
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Bears’ RB’s Big Offseason Change Could Pay Huge Dividends in 2020