The Facts: The Bears opened up space alongside Tarik Cohen in their backfield by trading Jordan Howard this offseason and third-round pick Montgomery joins free agent acquisition Mike Davis as the likeliest candidates to fill it. Early signs about the rookie’s chances of doing that have been positive. Montgomery’s skills in the passing game got a thumbs up from HC Matt Nagy and RBs coach Charles London said his ability as a runner was also evident right off the bat. London said Montgomery has “pretty rare contact balance,” which gives him the chance to gain yards even when there’s a lot of traffic ahead of him on the field.
Diehards Line:
“He definitely possesses that,” London said, via Adam Jahns of TheAthletic.com. “It’s important from the running back position because every play is not going to be clean and every hole is not going to be clean. Sometimes you just got to create that on your own. He did quite a bit of that at Iowa State. That was something that we noticed. And that is something you really can’t coach. You either kind of got it or you don’t and he does. It’s something we quickly noticed about him. ...” As PFT notes, London said Montgomery was focused on learning the offense and his role this spring, but that he can see the running back taking on a leadership role as time goes on. If the offseason praise turns into regular season results, that may happen sooner rather than later.