Bears: How much workload should David Montgomery see vs Steelers?
Who is ready for tonight’s matchup versus the Pittsburgh Steelers? In all honestly, this should be a winnable game for the Chicago Bears. More so than what they have to expect in their upcoming slate of games after their bye week in Week 10.
This Week 9 matchup is not going to be easy though as the Bears are -6.5 point underdogs. Football can be weird though. We have seen seven underdogs come away with wins this week — can the Bears make it an even eight?
Ahead of tonight’s game, the Bears are activating David Montgomery off injured reserve.
The #Bears are expected to activate RB David Montgomery off Injured Reserve to play tonight, source said. Not a surprise, as coach Matt Nagy said last week there was a good chance. Montgomery suffered the knee injury in Week 4, and should be good to go vs the #Steelers.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 8, 2021
When Montgomery went down with his injury, we predicted that the soonest he would be back was Week 11. This would give him a full five weeks of rest before his return. It appears that Montgomery is back ahead of schedule, but he is pushing himself to return too soon? Mason West of The Chicago Audible had this to say about Montgomery’s situation:
As a fan, this is exciting.
— Mason West (@WestSportsPT) November 6, 2021
As a physical therapist, I saw him favoring that left knee in recent practice videos and would heavily suggest they wait until after the BYE week.
I am not sure Montgomery's presence is the difference between a W or an L.#Bears #DaBears https://t.co/fa0Z5NJz6W
How big of a workload should David Montgomery see tonight for the Bears?
Well, it appears the Bears disagree, but just how much should we expect to see of David Montgomery tonight? I will preface this with the fact that I have zero inside information regarding the situation. I have no inside sources telling me anything regarding what Matt Nagy and the Bears plan on doing with their running back rotation tonight.
Let’s be honest, Nagy wouldn’t give out real information anyway. He’s so secretive he could not even say he was staying in a hotel while removed from the team while dealing with Covid last week. If that was a big secret, why would he tell anyone who he plans to start tonight and what kind of snap count, if any, David Montgomery might see versus the Steelers?
Now, with that out of the way, here is my best-educated guess on how this is going to go down tonight. My guess is that David Montgomery will be listed as the starting running back, however, I think Khalil Herbert will see the bulk of the carries out of the backfield as he proves more explosive running the ball on early downs. Then, I see David Montgomery playing more of the third-down role as he is a better route runner and pass catcher than Herbert.
Many are thinking, why activate Montgomery if he’s not going to start and see a full workload. Well, I believe that an 80% Montomgery is better than a 100% Nall. If Damien Williams was healthy, I believe the Bears would have waited until after the bye week to activate him.
Next. Biggest positions of need for Bears in 2022. dark
If you have both running backs in fantasy football this will be a tough decision for you. I’d probably lean playing Herbert over David Montgomery just because I know for sure he’s 100 percent healthy. However, if you have to decide between Montgomery and another player in your flex, my best guess is that you should stick to your original plan. If you have Montgomery, Herbert and a different flex option, I’d lean on that third flex option — tough spot to be in overall.
For a difference of opinion, feel free to check out Parker’s thoughts on the situation regarding the running back rotation tonight versus the Steelers.