Damien Williams is perfect backup for David Montgomery for Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears learned their lesson last year. The team was reliant on David Montgomery as a running back who was going to see the majority of the carries. With such a reliance on Montgomery and his workload, the Bears thought that they could get away with Tarik Cohen and Cordarelle Patterson as the only depth on the roster.
Cohen and Patterson are running backs by positions but are different players than Montgomery altogether, and neither was necessarily a backup for Montgomery. It did not help that Tarik Cohen got hurt, but when David Montgomery missed a game in 2020, the Bears learned the hard way that they did not have a running back.
They leaned on a combination of Patterson, Artavis Pierce, and Ryan Nall. Patterson led the team with 12 carries for 30 yards against the Vikings in an ugly loss.
The Bears relying on Montgomery to be a workhorse is not an issue. However, they need a running back behind him who can handle that workload if he goes down. Cohen is a compliment and not a backup and they did not have the depth behind him.
Damien Williams is the perfect player to throw into the mix. It is worth noting that he signed with KC in 2018, so he did not play for Matt Nagy, although it is a similar offense. Beyond that, Williams knows Bill Lazor from their time in Miami together.
He should be able to step into the offense without much issue. We all know Williams from his Super Bowl run, but he has been in the NFL since 2014 and has been a backup in most scenarios.
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Still, he has held up since 2014 and has been relied on in big games. Adding Williams will decrease Montgomery’s carry load by 2-3 per game. In turn, that helps keep him a bit more fresh. If it does not, the team can trust that they can slide Williams into the lineup without changing the role of Cohen, or changing the structure of their offense altogether.
It is not a game-changer, but is a much-needed addition.