The Chicago Bears placed Khalil Herbert on the IR, just as he was starting to hit his stride this season. It had taken him a few weeks, but he went from a backup to David Montgomery to a player in a timeshare, splitting work with Montgomery.
With Herbert out of the picture, the question will be whether they keep the timeshare that had started to give them success, or if they go back to the old ways of riding one back. That question will come down to Trestan Ebner, and how much confidence the team has in him.
Will Chicago Bears continue running back timeshare?
When David Montgomery missed two games, the team mainly relied on Khalil Herbert. It is fair that the Bears were using a one-back system at the time as well, but Herbert had the large majority of snaps and carries.
The split was about 80/20 for the lead back, but since then, the shift has gone much closer to 60/40. So, you can argue that they did not trust Ebner, you can also argue that they did not lean into the two-back system yet.
However, one thing that will be interesting is passing downs. Ebner got the majority of his snap share during passing snaps, long down and distance, and two-minute drill play.
This makes sense because those are some of the worst times to get Herbert on the field. He is not a good pass protector, nor does he catch passes well out of the backfield. On the flip side, Montgomery hardly ever leaves the field on passing snaps, because he excels here.
If the Chicago Bears are not going to pull Montgomery on passing down snaps, when will Ebner play? The first thought is that it would be the same rotation, just like if Herbert were in. Of the two, it is easier to compare the skills of Ebner to Herbert than the other way around.
Still, because the only real work Ebner has so far is complementing Herbert, we have not seen him in that role yet.
At an initial glance, this probably will lead to more work for Montgomery, than it will lead to a split in roles. If the team can trust Ebner between the tackles, it may be more split up, bu they have not shown that yet, and they also will not play Ebner on passing downs. So, he may be more limited, and the timeshare may go back to 80/20, which would mean more work overall for David Montgomery.