Chicago Bears Offseason Stock Watch: David Montgomery
Did the stock of Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery go up or down this offseason?
When looking at the Chicago Bears offseason, David Montgomery is a winner. To start, after we looked into the advanced stats, it was clear that Montgomery was held back by his line, but was much better at creating on his own.
Still, without much depth, it was going to be interesting to see how the Bears handled the position. They could have elected to add competition or add depth. However, they elected to do neither and enter the offseason with a thin depth chart.
They may eventually add someone, but they are heavily reliant on Montgomery carrying the load at the moment. The Bears trust in him and will be giving him all of the carries, as Ryan Nall, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Tarik Cohen make up the rest of the depth.
On the other hand, there is a serious question as to whether or not the offensive line has gotten better, plateaued, or potentially will regress this year. They did not invest resources to upgrade and are relying on Germain Ifedi to change positions. Beyond that, continuity and James Daniels sticking at guard is the main hope to open things up for Montgomery.
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Still, last year at this time Montgomery was competing with Mike Davis for snaps. That lasted about a week into the NFL season. Now, there is not even a Davis type backup to potentially steal touches. Patterson and Cohen are completely different backs, and Nall is a long time special teamer and end of roster backup. David Montgomery stock has gone up from last year and even from the end of the year.