The Chicago Bears backfield will be different in 2023
The Chicago Bears’ offense will be much different in 2023 than in 2022. The Bears traded for wide receiver D.J. Moore from the Carolina Panthers this offseason. The Bears gave up the number one overall pick for him and significant draft capital. While upgrading the skilled pieces of the passing game, the Bears shook things up in the backfield when they chose not to re-sign David Montgomery. One analyst thinks he’s the team’s most significant loss of free agency.
Brad Spielberger with Pro Football Focus wrote about each NFL team’s greatest free agency loss. Spielberger thinks Montgomery’s skillset will be missed in Chicago:
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a single person in the Bears’ building who doesn’t love David Montgomery the person, and while he may not have been a great fit as a runner in their wide-zone-heavy rushing attack, he provides more pass-catching chops than their current committee. The newly signed Travis Homer can be a solid pass protector out of the backfield, another strength of Montgomery’s — his 71.7 pass-blocking grade since 2019 is a top-10 mark at the position — but as of right now, each running back’s presence in the backfield could be a bit of a tell to opposing defenses.
All of that said, signing D’Onta Foreman for $3 million on a one-year flier is a great early-down replacement at a good value, and perhaps Chicago could add a Day 3 pick to round out the running back room if they’re not in love with 2022 sixth-rounder Trestan Ebner.”
Montgomery was overrated in Chicago
Montgomery was a solid running back for the Chicago Bears. But he was never a star and had a mediocre year in a contract season. PFF gave Montgomery a 67.9 overall grade for the 2022 season. He was considered a great teammate and leader. But he was a leader on a 3-14 team in 2023. The Bears led the league in rushing, but that didn’t amount to much in the win column.
Montgomery was thought to be a good pass blocker, but he was graded just over three points higher (57.4) than Khalil Herbert in that category last season. Mongtomery’s running game was deteriorating into 3.9 yards and a cloud of dust from the tacklers in front of him.
Herbert was becoming a better number-one running back than Montgomery as the 2022 season progressed. Herbert improved in pass blocking toward the end of the year. Montgomery wasn’t going to do much to help the Bears get back into playoff contention. His best game last year’s season was in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers when Montgomery ran for 122 yards. The Bears lost the game 27-10.
Chicago Bears new linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is “ready to work”
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