This is from the Brad Biggs mailbag. I thought I'd toss it out here for some discussion today. What do you think?
LINK What is your true take on David Montgomery? "I think Montgomery is a back you can win with but not one you are going to win because of. There are few elite backs in the NFL that teams win because of, and he’s certainly not in that category. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a successful featured back. His ability to gain yardage after first contact is probably his best trait. He runs with good balance and good vision. His receiving ability certainly can be expanded in Year 2. I agree he lacks ideal speed, but if he is more decisive picking a hole and hitting it this year, I don’t think that will be as noticeable. Assuming the Bears can make improvements across the board on offense, let’s see how Montgomery does in his second season."
I agree with that assessment. He's not Zeke or Saquan or McCaffery. But he's plenty good, and damn he made a lot of his yards last season on his own. How many times did he have to avoid a tackle in the backfield and make positive yards? A lot. He makes guys miss and he can catch the ball. His pass blocking seemed pretty good last season too. With improvements in the line this season I think he'll be better. It will help if he has to avoid his first tackle past the line of scrimmage most times this season.
I agree with that assessment. He's not Zeke or Saquan or McCaffery. But he's plenty good, and damn he made a lot of his yards last season on his own. How many times did he have to avoid a tackle in the backfield and make positive yards? A lot. He makes guys miss and he can catch the ball. His pass blocking seemed pretty good last season too. With improvements in the line this season I think he'll be better. It will help if he has to avoid his first tackle past the line of scrimmage most times this season.
The defenders were often on him about the same time he got the football. It was also frustrating to see Cohen getting those short passes behind the LOS with defenders right on him when the pass arrived. It was like ZERO chance of anything good happening in either of those situations (run play with Monty, or that short pass play to Cohen). On some of those plays it was remarkable they just hung on to the football.
Montgomery was my favorite HB in the 2019 draft class, and it was hard to watch him run into brick walls and have such low YPC week in and week out. I agree with Biggs' take that he won't be an elite back, but I still think he can become a quality starter (which is fine for a 3rd round pick). They just got to find some ways to open more holes, and hopefully he will improve his game and take a step forward in 2020.
It's all about the OL. With our OL run blocking last year, the "Galloping Ghost" would be named just "Ghost", "Sweetness" would have been "Sourness", and the "Kansas City Comet" would have been the "Kansas City Anchor".
I can only hope our OL performs better this year, because nobody had even 2 inches of space (certainly not Sayer's 18) to try to run through.
(Never forget, I'm the master of hyperbole. and sarcasm. This was hyperbolic.)
OL was trash, the passing game was not a threat and the playcalling was predictable. I know there was a few weeks we jokingly did the take a shot if Nagy called a pass run, I think for a bunch of amatures we hit a pretty solid %.
Post by GrizzlyBear on May 13, 2020 13:55:50 GMT -6
I like Monty a lot and believe he's a good replacement for Howard. I am more concerned w/ the lack of backups, especially now after Cohen's production dipped significantly last year.
I think there is no real way to know what his kid can be based on last year. the O was a complete mess. But if Nagy isn't going to use the RB much then it might never matter; and we might not ever know what he could be.
I do think he can thrive on a few plays if the OL and passing game are in place, but I doubt he ever gets a shot a 1k+ yards.