I agree that volume held him up and probably still would, but this predictable vanilla running game on 1st and 2nd down was exactly the crap I've been harping against this whole time with respect to the Bears offense being terrible. I'm not trying to make excuses for him, because I simply don't know yet, but their playcalling was bush league at best last year. A lot was tied into lack of confidence in Trubisky, but those 1st and 2nd down carries were called bad, blocked bad, and yes arguably ran bad by Montgomery himself. I don't think so. What I saw were some of the most impressive 2 and 3 yard runs I've seen in a long time. The playcalling and execution were broken last year, and I want to see what he can do with a competent offense around him (competent as in average, not elite). But as a Bears fan I am not holding my breath. I've already moved the couple shares I had last year and I'm not looking to buy per se, but I'm still interested.I watched Bears games last year, even went to one, and think the numbers represent what he is, a mediocre talent.
Yeah sure every RB needs carries to get into a rhythm but it's hard to sustain drives when the run game is not producing. Montgomery got the 13th most carries in the league on first and second down and all 12 of the RB's who got more then him had a higher YPC and only other one under 4 was Michel. About the same if you just isolate this to first down, Montgomery got 12th most carries, all 11 over him did better in YPC and only he and Michel were under 4 YPC. Even a guy like Fournette who everyone bags on for not being efficient and was facing way more stacked boxes then Montgomery was over 4.5 on first and second down. If you want to sustain a running game you got to do better running the ball on first and second down.
He faced 8 or more in the box on just under 20% of his carries. That's not an overly high number especially for someone who rarely played on third down. Sony Michel for example, the only guy in his range/workload production faced stack boxes on 33% of his carries.
Volume is actually the best think he has going for him IMO, any RB getting the volume he got last year should be considered a candidate to be a top 15 RB even if the receptions were on the low side.
Didn't see your post before posting mine but I agree completely with the bolded.I agree that volume held him up and probably still would, but this predictable vanilla running game on 1st and 2nd down was exactly the crap I've been harping against this whole time with respect to the Bears offense being terrible. I'm not trying to make excuses for him, because I simply don't know yet, but their playcalling was bush league at best last year. A lot was tied into lack of confidence in Trubisky, but those 1st and 2nd down carries were called bad, blocked bad, and yes arguably ran bad by Montgomery himself. I don't think so. What I saw were some of the most impressive 2 and 3 yard runs I've seen in a long time. The playcalling and execution were broken last year, and I want to see what he can do with a competent offense around him (competent as in average, not elite). But as a Bears fan I am not holding my breath. I've already moved the couple shares I had last year and I'm not looking to buy per se, but I'm still interested.
Sorry man but I'm not a Bears fan. Was just invested in a lot of their players last year in fantasy so watched their games and has misfortune of forecasting Saints in Chicago in October on a late Sunday afternoon would be one of the best games of the year to attend.Like you, I suffer the misfortune of being a Bears fan, but at least I didn't have to go to a game last year .
I honestly don't know what to think about Montgomery. I think you bring up a lot of good points in your analysis, and I can't really argue with your logic.
The play calling did seem vanilla but does not it usually seem vanilla when it does not work? But you are probably right, not much with respect to what Bears had planned went right and I'm sure that impacted their calls. I think a lot of creativity they had planned was predicated on moving Trubisky around, using TE's and Taylor Gabriel to create a lot of mismatches. Those are things they did not have a lot of at their disposal.I agree that volume held him up and probably still would, but this predictable vanilla running game on 1st and 2nd down was exactly the crap I've been harping against this whole time with respect to the Bears offense being terrible. I'm not trying to make excuses for him, because I simply don't know yet, but their playcalling was bush league at best last year. A lot was tied into lack of confidence in Trubisky, but those 1st and 2nd down carries were called bad, blocked bad, and yes arguably ran bad by Montgomery himself. I don't think so. What I saw were some of the most impressive 2 and 3 yard runs I've seen in a long time. The playcalling and execution were broken last year, and I want to see what he can do with a competent offense around him (competent as in average, not elite). But as a Bears fan I am not holding my breath. I've already moved the couple shares I had last year and I'm not looking to buy per se, but I'm still interested.
Personally I never thought he looked like a beast in the least coming out of college. I was not very high on him talent wise, he went in an area of the draft I thought he would, as a third rounder. I considered him just a cut above replacement level coming in but I did draft him a lot, mainly redraft, because Mike Davis was his comp for at least early down work.I don't understand the sweeping judgments of Montgomery. The kid looked like a beast coming out of college - I was one of those burned by his mediocre season, but that doesn't make him a mediocre talent, IMO.
I understand where you're coming from, but I'm giving him that benefit based on what I'd seen of him in college, in that he was literally the best in the game at making defenders miss over 2 full seasons. That's not an accident or a fluke. He has a little power, and while not a burner, he's not a slug either. He's an elite talent with his vision & shiftiness - unfortunately those 2 skills reqiuire an OL that can open holes for him & an offense that can maintain drives. The Trubisky interceptions & inability of the OL to open holes was a major problem for his production. Then the defense tiring out & allowing games to get away hindered his volume, the kiss of death for a 2-down back. I'd love to see Montgomery as a 3-down back. He has decent hands, and is dangerous in space. Plus with the vanilla way they used him, it might actually keep defenses on their toes a little.Personally I never thought he looked like a beast in the least coming out of college. I was not very high on him talent wise, he went in an area of the draft I thought he would, as a third rounder. I considered him just a cut above replacement level coming in but I did draft him a lot, mainly redraft, because Mike Davis was his comp for at least early down work.
I've already left two long posts on him but I'll just say as a fantasy owner we got to make judgment calls. You say it's to early to close the book on him. I agree. But it's not early to make judgements on him for my fantasy teams best interest. He also has done nothing to get benefit of doubt for me that you are giving him that he is not in fact a mediocre talent. It's not more correct or wrong IMO to close the book on him yet in either direction but it's not to early to have an opinion.
What I noticed about him is he makes a lot of quick, lateral movements to create those broken tackles, but he lacks the burst to get upfield immediately afterward to take advantage. Sometimes broken tackles can be misleading and it sure looks the case here.I understand where you're coming from, but I'm giving him that benefit based on what I'd seen of him in college, in that he was literally the best in the game at making defenders miss over 2 full seasons. That's not an accident or a fluke. He has a little power, and while not a burner, he's not a slug either. He's an elite talent with his vision & shiftiness - unfortunately those 2 skills reqiuire an OL that can open holes for him & an offense that can maintain drives. The Trubisky interceptions & inability of the OL to open holes was a major problem for his production. Then the defense tiring out & allowing games to get away hindered his volume, the kiss of death for a 2-down back. I'd love to see Montgomery as a 3-down back. He has decent hands, and is dangerous in space. Plus with the vanilla way they used him, it might actually keep defenses on their toes a little.
Like I said, I got burned by him as a 5th round RB, so it's weird to be defending the guy. But looking at the big picture of the Bears dumpster fire of an offense last year, I have a hard time making DMont the scapegoat. I think 5th round lottery ticket is again fair value for him in redraft. The sustained drives alone should provide him with more volume/value. A little more usage at the strip would be nice too - one would think his skill set is especially useful there, but the Bears insisted on trying to make Mitch Trubisky into Tom Brady passing on 1st and goal at the 1.
Some of that has to do with the OL though. It's a chicken & the egg. He'll make a quick lateral cut & then run into a wall. But as I'd mentioned, other times he'd turn a 4-5 yard loss into a 2-3 yard gain. On the stat sheet his YPC looks bad. In the play-by-play the play looks bad. In terms of sustaining the drive, that 2 yards gained didn't necessarily help his team. But it helped them more than a 4-5 yard loss. And Montgomery was responsible for helping his team in that regard.What I noticed about him is he makes a lot of quick, lateral movements to create those broken tackles, but he lacks the burst to get upfield immediately afterward to take advantage. Sometimes broken tackles can be misleading and it sure looks the case here.
Yeah the passing game things they were trying to do weren't working, and we were calling out their running plays before the snap when we were watching. Nagy ran out of ideas and with the playclock rolling, sometimes that same crappy run play that didn't work last time gets called again.The play calling did seem vanilla but does not it usually seem vanilla when it does not work? But you are probably right, not much with respect to what Bears had planned went right and I'm sure that impacted their calls. I think a lot of creativity they had planned was predicated on moving Trubisky around, using TE's and Taylor Gabriel to create a lot of mismatches. Those are things they did not have a lot of at their disposal.
love this post. i bought into a narrative posted a few times during the last season that the whole scheme looked off and that is most likely because Nagy couldn't make the transition from Trub-centric offense to Montgomery-centric offense. Whether that was what he wanted, or if his hand was forced because Trub was just that bad, i have no idea. but forget in-game adjustments, it was painful watching the in-season adjustment.Yeah the passing game things they were trying to do weren't working, and we were calling out their running plays before the snap when we were watching. Nagy ran out of ideas and with the playclock rolling, sometimes that same crappy run play that didn't work last time gets called again.
I've said it before, but I'm a strong believer that if it isn't working, you have to try something else. They *never* called simple high % passing plays on 1st and 2nd down, it seemed to my biased eyes. It's great to be able to set up the pass with the run, but there is nothing wrong with doing it the other way around. Nagy didn't seem to get that notion of a counterpunch last year, but so much is a result of Trubisky laying an egg, and as an Oregon homer I can tell you that Helfrich was the same way, not being able to make ingame adjustments very well.
I'm not convinced he ever had any. The only difference between his offense & Hostler's offense when he was with the Niners were the insanely complex attempts at misdirection he'd come out with on 1st down. IIRC the 1st offensive play from scrimmage in game 1 last season was such a play & it was a complete disaster. He did that way too many times, as I'm sure a Bears guy like @yoman can attest (I believe Yo has season tix & went to a number of games)Yeah the passing game things they were trying to do weren't working, and we were calling out their running plays before the snap when we were watching. Nagy ran out of ideas and with the playclock rolling, sometimes that same crappy run play that didn't work last time gets called again.
i saw the same. And I'll add that when something did seem to work on the ground, Nagy would out-clever himself and never run it again. I'm more of an old school guy - "when something works, keep running it until they stop it". For Nagy it's "ok, that worked, let's never call that play again".I've said it before, but I'm a strong believer that if it isn't working, you have to try something else. They *never* called simple high % passing plays on 1st and 2nd down, it seemed to my biased eyes.
There were 2 games I attended last year that were among the worst games i have been to in terms of their offense - the one you attended and the opening game against the Packers. If you know the history of the Bears offensive struggles you know that is saying a lot.Sorry man but I'm not a Bears fan. Was just invested in a lot of their players last year in fantasy so watched their games and has misfortune of forecasting Saints in Chicago in October on a late Sunday afternoon would be one of the best games of the year to attend.
https://twitter.com/drrisher/status/1292203675117596676?s=21Dr. Michael Tal Risher @DrRisher
David Montgomery is weighing in this season at 222lbs and 8% bodyfat. This is a major improvement from last year where he was 223lbs and 12% BF. Expect a stronger and faster RB this season
The jury is still out, but he didn't look very good last year and I suppose it is a wait and see moment.
https://twitter.com/32beatwriters/status/1297326013781872640?s=21NFL Beat Writers @32BeatWriters
“During a long David Montgomery run Friday, I thought, ‘Wow, did Montgomery get faster? Did he lose some weight?’ Shorts and shells can sometimes be deceiving, but then on one of the first plays in Saturday’s fully padded session, Montgomery burst through the hole for long gain.”
Worth his ADP in redraft IMO. If nothing else, he has a predictable workload. He was so pedestrian last year but it was serviceable for a flex spot. I have a hard time seeing him being worse than last season so there seems to be a safe floor with some decent upside.The jury is still out, but he didn't look very good last year and I suppose it is a wait and see moment.
Very good positive slant to an otherwise ugly introduction of Montgomery into the league last year.Worth his ADP in redraft IMO. If nothing else, he has a predictable workload. He was so pedestrian last year he was serviceable for an RB2 or flex spot. I have a hard time seeing him being worse than last season so there seems to be a safe floor with some decent upside.
Fantasy Pros says his ADP range between the mid 4th and mid 6th. Mid 4th, no f'n way I touch him. As we get to the 6th round, I think he is fairly attractive for a team that still needs a 2nd RB.Very good positive slant to an otherwise ugly introduction of Montgomery into the league last year.
A lot of players, but not all, become draftable at some point.Fantasy Pros says his ADP range between the mid 4th and mid 6th. Mid 4th, no f'n way I touch him. As we get to the 6th round, I think he is fairly attractive for a team that still needs a 2nd RB.
Absolutely. I just think I like him relative to many of the guys around him: Ronald Jones, Devin Singletary, Jordan Howard, Mostert. Those guys I am almost never drafting.A lot of players, but not all, become draftable at some point.
I prefer Singletary over Montgomery and it isn't close.Absolutely. I just think I like him relative to many of the guys around him: Ronald Jones, Devin Singletary, Jordan Howard, Mostert. Those guys I am almost never drafting.
How do you see the Singletary/Moss overall workload and GL work shaking out?I prefer Singletary over Montgomery and it isn't close.
I believe Moss is JAG, but he may have a role. Either way, Singletary's talent trumps Montgomery IMO.How do you see the Singletary/Moss overall workload and GL work shaking out?
David Montgomery said he "slimmed down" over the offseason and now weighs 218 pounds.
He officially only lost five pounds, but Montgomery cut out junk food from his diet and made eating right a focal point of the offseason. "I was a lot slower than I know I was capable of moving at," said Montgomery of his rookie season, "and it affected the game. I kind of let myself get in the way of myself as far as what I ate last year." Montgomery rushed for 889 yards in year one, but he averaged a pitiful 3.67 yards per carry. He wants to be more explosive with the dropped weight. Montgomery remains the clear lead back in Chicago and could be in for a big second season if he's able to become more efficient with his touches. Montgomery makes for a strong RB2 based solely on volume. If he can hit some more big plays, then the upside is there.
SOURCE: Chicago Bears
Aug 24, 2020, 11:05 AM ET
https://twitter.com/caplannfl/status/1298664165314383872?s=21Adam Caplan @caplannfl
On #Bears RB David Montgomery, I'm told team doesn't believe the injury he suffered today is to his knee.
https://twitter.com/kfishbain/status/1298669738298671104?s=21Kevin Fishbain @kfishbain
Matt Nagy said David Montgomery has a groin injury and does not know the severity.
If Montgomery is going to miss any time, I almost don't see another choice. Tough break for a very thing backfieldDavonta Freeman would make sense here.
Bump AR12. Dude's gonna get a bazillion targets with no running game.Damn. I'd say bump Cohen but I really think he is terrible and I have no idea who is next on the depth chart. Sign a vet?
The Bears said he walked off on his own.I gotta say, if he had to get carted off due to a groin injury, I'm not optimistic about him being effective at all this season. That had to be one serious tear.
Doens't look like he was walking well at all.The Bears said he walked off on his own.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1298672140552560640
Ay, caramba!Doens't look like he was walking well at all.
https://twitter.com/NFLlatinoTV/status/1298679999315283968?s=20
He looked in serious pain, thanks for the video, if I didn’t see this, I would have thought it was just a minor groin injury, but this looks major.Doens't look like he was walking well at all.
https://twitter.com/NFLlatinoTV/status/1298679999315283968?s=20
Coach Matt Nagy relayed that Montgomery, who suffered a groin strain Wednesday, is undergoing further testing to assess the injury, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
There's been conflicting reports about whether the running back was carted off the field Wednesday, but Adam Jahns of The Athletic adds context to that point by noting that Montgomery "left the practice field under his own power, was evaluated and was then carted to Halas Hall." Meanwhile, Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago suggests that when the Bears practice on the back field of their facility, "pretty much anyone with an injury is going to get carted back to the building because it's a decent walk." In any case, this remains a situation to monitor, but for now Montgomery's situation appears less serious than initially feared, after he slipped and fell during Wednesday's practice.