While most fans are satisfied with David Montgomery, they also realize that there is an untapped ceiling that he not quite hit in the Chicago Bears offense. Some of it can be put on himself, and that he is not quite an elite running back in the Saquon Barkley mold. He is an older school type of back. Beyond that, the issues on the offensive line and quarterback have hindered where the offense could go.
Still, through two NFL seasons, David Montgomery ranks 25th all-time in yards from scrimmage. Considering the long list of star running backs, this is a pretty good start. Take a look at the leaders below.
Game | Game | Rush | Rush | Rush | Rush | Rush | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rk | Player | From | To | YScm ▼ | G | GS | Att | Yds | Y/A | TD | Y/G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Y/G | Y/Tgt |
1 | Edgerrin James* | 1999 | 2000 | 4442 | 32 | 32 | 756 | 3262 | 4.31 | 26 | 101.9 | 169 | 125 | 1180 | 9.44 | 9 | 36.9 | 6.98 |
2 | Clinton Portis | 2002 | 2003 | 3777 | 29 | 25 | 563 | 3099 | 5.50 | 29 | 106.9 | 100 | 71 | 678 | 9.55 | 2 | 23.4 | 6.78 |
3 | LaDainian Tomlinson* | 2001 | 2002 | 3775 | 32 | 32 | 711 | 2919 | 4.11 | 24 | 91.2 | 175 | 138 | 856 | 6.20 | 1 | 26.8 | 4.89 |
4 | Ottis Anderson | 1979 | 1980 | 3573 | 32 | 32 | 632 | 2957 | 4.68 | 17 | 92.4 | 77 | 616 | 8.00 | 2 | 19.3 | ||
5 | Barry Sanders* | 1989 | 1990 | 3536 | 31 | 29 | 535 | 2774 | 5.19 | 27 | 89.5 | 60 | 762 | 12.70 | 3 | 24.6 | ||
6 | Le’Veon Bell | 2013 | 2014 | 3474 | 29 | 29 | 534 | 2221 | 4.16 | 16 | 76.6 | 171 | 128 | 1253 | 9.79 | 3 | 43.2 | 7.33 |
7 | Saquon Barkley | 2018 | 2019 | 3469 | 29 | 29 | 478 | 2310 | 4.83 | 17 | 79.7 | 194 | 143 | 1159 | 8.10 | 6 | 40.0 | 5.97 |
8 | Jamal Lewis | 2000 | 2002 | 3429 | 32 | 28 | 617 | 2691 | 4.36 | 12 | 84.1 | 96 | 74 | 738 | 9.97 | 1 | 23.1 | 7.69 |
9 | Marshall Faulk* | 1994 | 1995 | 3357 | 32 | 32 | 603 | 2360 | 3.91 | 22 | 73.8 | 148 | 108 | 997 | 9.23 | 4 | 31.2 | 6.74 |
10 | Joe Cribbs | 1980 | 1981 | 3300 | 31 | 31 | 563 | 2282 | 4.05 | 14 | 73.6 | 92 | 1018 | 11.07 | 8 | 32.8 | ||
11 | Ezekiel Elliott | 2016 | 2017 | 3246 | 25 | 25 | 564 | 2614 | 4.63 | 22 | 104.6 | 77 | 58 | 632 | 10.90 | 3 | 25.3 | 8.21 |
12 | Curtis Martin* | 1995 | 1996 | 3233 | 32 | 30 | 684 | 2639 | 3.86 | 28 | 82.5 | 102 | 76 | 594 | 7.82 | 4 | 18.6 | 5.82 |
13 | Gale Sayers* | 1965 | 1966 | 3052 | 28 | 25 | 395 | 2098 | 5.31 | 22 | 74.9 | 63 | 954 | 15.14 | 8 | 34.1 | ||
14 | Thurman Thomas* | 1988 | 1989 | 3002 | 31 | 31 | 505 | 2125 | 4.21 | 8 | 68.5 | 78 | 877 | 11.24 | 6 | 28.3 | ||
15 | Jerome Bettis* | 1993 | 1994 | 2991 | 32 | 28 | 613 | 2454 | 4.00 | 10 | 76.7 | 79 | 57 | 537 | 9.42 | 1 | 16.8 | 6.80 |
16 | Kareem Hunt | 2017 | 2018 | 2984 | 27 | 27 | 453 | 2151 | 4.75 | 15 | 79.7 | 98 | 79 | 833 | 10.54 | 10 | 30.9 | 8.50 |
17 | Frank Gore | 2005 | 2006 | 2919 | 30 | 17 | 439 | 2303 | 5.25 | 11 | 76.8 | 108 | 76 | 616 | 8.11 | 1 | 20.5 | 5.70 |
18 | Greg Bell | 1984 | 1985 | 2836 | 32 | 30 | 485 | 1983 | 4.09 | 15 | 62.0 | 92 | 853 | 9.27 | 2 | 26.7 | ||
19 | Warrick Dunn | 1997 | 1998 | 2810 | 32 | 24 | 469 | 2004 | 4.27 | 6 | 62.6 | 113 | 83 | 806 | 9.71 | 3 | 25.2 | 7.13 |
20 | Mike Thomas | 1975 | 1976 | 2793 | 27 | 22 | 489 | 2020 | 4.13 | 9 | 74.8 | 68 | 773 | 11.37 | 7 | 28.6 | ||
21 | Ray Rice | 2008 | 2009 | 2768 | 29 | 19 | 361 | 1793 | 4.97 | 7 | 61.8 | 144 | 111 | 975 | 8.78 | 1 | 33.6 | 6.77 |
22 | Marcus Allen* | 1982 | 1983 | 2702 | 25 | 24 | 426 | 1711 | 4.02 | 20 | 68.4 | 106 | 991 | 9.35 | 5 | 39.6 | ||
23 | Larry Brown | 1969 | 1970 | 2656 | 27 | 26 | 439 | 2013 | 4.59 | 9 | 74.6 | 71 | 643 | 9.06 | 2 | 23.8 | ||
24 | LeSean McCoy | 2009 | 2010 | 2617 | 31 | 17 | 362 | 1717 | 4.74 | 11 | 55.4 | 146 | 118 | 900 | 7.63 | 2 | 29.0 | 6.16 |
25 | David Montgomery | 2019 | 2020 | 2582 | 31 | 22 | 489 | 1959 | 4.01 | 14 | 63.2 | 103 | 79 | 623 | 7.89 | 3 | 20.1 | 6.05 |
26 | Maurice Jones-Drew | 2006 | 2007 | 2552 | 31 | 1 | 333 | 1709 | 5.13 | 22 | 55.1 | 117 | 86 | 843 | 9.80 | 2 | 27.2 | 7.21 |
27 | Steve Slaton | 2008 | 2009 | 2513 | 27 | 25 | 399 | 1719 | 4.31 | 12 | 63.7 | 114 | 94 | 794 | 8.45 | 5 | 29.4 | 6.96 |
28 | Todd Gurley | 2015 | 2016 | 2506 | 29 | 28 | 507 | 1991 | 3.93 | 16 | 68.7 | 84 | 64 | 515 | 8.05 | 0 | 17.8 | 6.13 |
29 | Ricky Williams | 1999 | 2000 | 2465 | 22 | 22 | 501 | 1884 | 3.76 | 10 | 85.6 | 95 | 72 | 581 | 8.07 | 1 | 26.4 | 6.12 |
30 | Fred Taylor | 1998 | 1999 | 2459 | 25 | 21 | 423 | 1955 | 4.62 | 20 | 78.2 | 68 | 54 | 504 | 9.33 | 3 | 20.2 | 7.41 |
31 | Kevin Smith | 2008 | 2009 | 2424 | 29 | 25 | 455 | 1723 | 3.79 | 12 | 59.4 | 111 | 80 | 701 | 8.76 | 1 | 24.2 | 6.32 |
32 | Joe Mixon | 2017 | 2018 | 2377 | 28 | 20 | 415 | 1794 | 4.32 | 12 | 64.1 | 89 | 73 | 583 | 7.99 | 1 | 20.8 | 6.55 |
33 | Knowshon Moreno | 2009 | 2010 | 2311 | 29 | 22 | 429 | 1726 | 4.02 | 12 | 59.5 | 89 | 65 | 585 | 9.00 | 5 | 20.2 | 6.57 |
34 | Steven Jackson | 2004 | 2005 | 2228 | 29 | 18 | 388 | 1719 | 4.43 | 12 | 59.3 | 79 | 62 | 509 | 8.21 | 2 | 17.6 | 6.44 |
Even looking below, you see a surprise in Steve Slaton, and Kevin Smith who did not translate much further, but beyond that, rock-solid names across the board.
It is worth noting that in rushing yards, Montgomery ranked 23rd, but when you add in receiving he does drop does to 25th.
Still, a few more strong seasons like this and we will be continuing to have his name come up next to some of the best running backs of all time. It is good to see that through two seasons David Montgomery is only being compared to some of the best all-time in the game.