Chicago Bears Countdown to Kickoff: 32 Days with David Montgomery

David Montgomery joins Chicago Bears in 2019 NFL Draft, quickly spot

Following his junior year, Montgomery announced his intentions to enter the 2019 NFL Draft. He finished his collegiate career with over 3,500 all-purpose yards and 26 total touchdowns. Despite this total, there were several running backs ranked higher than him in the draft process, including Alabama's Josh Jacobs and Penn State's Miles Sanders.

Nonetheless, Montgomery became only the fourth running back selected when he was chosen by the Chicago Bears with the 73rd overall pick during the third round of the draft. The Bears were without a first or second-round pick, so Montgomery was the first selection made by the team.

In his first season in Chicago, Montgomery spent time behind the dynamic Tarik Cohen, although the rookie ended up starting eight games throughout the year. He finished his first season with nearly 900 yards on the ground and over 250 more as a receiver alongside seven total touchdowns. His breakout game as a rookie came during a week seven battle against the Chargers, where Montgomery posted his first 100+ yard rushing total of his career and finished the game with a 5.0 yards per carry average.

By his second year, Montgomery completely took control of the running back room and served as the team's primary back. With the ability to run between the tackles or on the boundary partnered with his skills as a pass catcher and blocker, Montgomery quickly developed into a complete back who could win in any circumstance and would rarely go down to one tackler.

In his second year, Montgomery once again led the team in rushing yards with his first 1,000-yard professional season and also contributed 10 total touchdowns in just 15 games. He finished the year fifth across the league in rush yards and total offensive yardage and was eighth in rush yards per game. For the fantasy football heads, he finished the year as the 15th-highest-scoring player and sixth-highest-scoring running back in standard-scoring leagues.

The offense had a lot of problems throughout the season, specifically in the passing game, but Montgomery's consistency was a factor, alongside a quality defensive unit led by Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, and Eddie Jackson, in helping the team reach the postseason. Unfortunately, the Bears lost their first appearance, and Montgomery was held to just 31 offensive yards, a testament to the stout New Orleans Saints defense (it would be hard for Montgomery to do more against this unit given the fact that they did not have to defend the passing game too much).

Montgomery's 2021 season was unfortunately dampened by injury, and the back could only start in 13 games due to an early season knee injury. Nonetheless, the back had a productive third professional season where he served as the team's leading rusher for the third consecutive time. In 13 games as a starter, he totaled 1,150 all-purpose yards and seven total touchdowns.

In what was one of his least productive seasons from a statistical standpoint, Montgomery still generated an impressive 55 first downs in the run game, the second most of his career to date. At the end of the season, Montgomery logged his first, and so far only, appearance on the NFL Top 100 list, where he finished as the 98th highest-ranked player in the league.

Unfortunately, the Bears as a unit were unproductive during the year, and in the ensuing offseason, the team elected to bring in a new regime led by Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles. Entering the 2022 season, Montgomery was in the final year of his contract, and after a lengthy holdout by star linebacker Roquan Smtih, who was ultimately traded during the season, it was not a guarantee that the team's lead back would be resigned after the season.