Turnover at Halas Hall is so expansive that not solely is working again David Montgomery studying a brand new playbook from a brand new teaching employees, however by the point the Chicago Bears fill out a 90-man roster for the offseason, practically half of his teammates will probably be new.
It’s rather a lot for Montgomery to work via as he enters the fourth and closing 12 months of his rookie contract after the Bears traded as much as draft him within the third spherical in 2019. Some of Montgomery’s traits most likely make him a superb match for the scheme offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is putting in, a lot of it primarily based on what Getsy discovered in Green Bay.
Remember, the Bears focused Montgomery in 2019 as a result of they deemed him a greater match for Matt Nagy’s offense than Jordan Howard, the working again who was in place from the earlier teaching employees. The key for Montgomery is to make use of the 2022 season to persuade the choice makers he’s the appropriate match for the brand new system, one thing Howard didn’t do regardless of dashing for 3,370 yards and 24 touchdowns in three seasons and lacking just one sport earlier than he was traded.
The Bears thought Montgomery was extra fitted to the within zone and run-pass possibility scheme Nagy desired, they usually billed him as a greater match within the passing sport. The greatest distinction between Montgomery and Aaron Jones — the featured working again for the Packers, for whom Getsy labored the final three seasons — is that Jones is extra dynamic within the passing sport.
But Montgomery’s imaginative and prescient and persistence ought to result in ample success within the outdoors zone scheme the Bears will lean on closely within the floor sport, with second-year working again Khalil Herbert absolutely taking part in a task as nicely.
“Change is good a lot of times,” Montgomery stated. “It may be uncomfortable, it may be challenging because you’re so used to going by things a certain way, but in the end you realize that it betters you as a person and as a player. I’m excited to see what’s to come.”
Jones additionally has extra lengthy velocity than Montgomery, however the Bears working again has greater than sufficient short-area burst to learn the defensive pursuit, choose the alley he desires and clear it earlier than it closes. He additionally runs with glorious contact stability, even when that wasn’t such an enormous a part of his sport final season after a knee damage compelled him to overlook 4 video games.
Montgomery will earn $2.79 million this season, and if there’s any strain to carry out for a brand new contract, he’s not letting that present.
“Whether I’m going into my second year or my first year, I’ve still got to play football and I’ve still got to perform,” he stated. “I could (not) really care less about contracts, the contract terms and things, but I’m excited to be here for another year and play with my guys.”
It will probably be attention-grabbing to see how the roster comes collectively within the coming weeks and what that leads Getsy to do from a strategic standpoint. Will a scarcity of expertise at large receiver lead the Bears to make the most of extra 12 personnel (one working again, two receivers and two tight ends)? The Packers have been in 12 personnel 29% of the time final season.
The Bears signed fullback Khari Blasingame, though he’s not the normal hammer you see in an I-formation. Maybe they are going to use extra 21 personnel (two working backs, two receivers and one tight finish), one other formation that would result in extra success within the floor sport.
The backside line is that they don’t have plenty of confirmed skill-position gamers on offense, and Montgomery has been a comparatively constant performer the final three seasons. The Bears may lean on him as they get rolling in a brand new offense with many new elements.
Where it goes from right here, nobody is aware of — however coach Matt Eberflus says he’s open-minded.
“We’re going to stretch that role for all those backs and see what they can do,” he stated. “That’s the entire means of this time of 12 months. We’re going to emphasize these guys and stretch their function, which means: Can he run the entire gamut of the passing tree? What sort of routes is he good at? How’s the timing of that? Can he beat guys one-on-one persistently? Is it a security or a linebacker that’s overlaying him? It’s a optimistic method for that man to do this, if he can beat all these guys — DBs and linebackers — and we really feel he has the talent set to do this.
“I think the sky’s the limit. We don’t put ceilings on guys. If you do that, that’s not a good way to go. If the guy can climb all the way and go all the way up, man, go. We encourage you to do that and we’ll keep feeding you.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com