Fantasy Football

David Montgomery

RB - CHI

Height: 5-10

Weight: 222 lbs

Age: 24

College: Iowa State

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2021 Season Outlooks

In Montgomery's breakout 2020 season, he was an easy top-10 running back in all formats. With the return of Tarik Cohen, there's enough uncertainty that you should draft Montgomery as a mid-range No. 2 running back no earlier than the back half of Round 3. Without Cohen, Montgomery saw his role in the passing game blossom, more than doubling his catches per game. We expect Montgomery to give some, if not all, of that increase back for as long as Cohen stays healthy.

:Even if you’re skeptical of Montgomery’s fantasy numbers from 2020 (for good reason), the advanced metrics point to improved performance for the Chicago RB in his 2nd season. The problem is the return of Cohen, which will almost certainly sap targets. The Bears also signed Damien Williams (to a small 1-year deal) and drafted Khalil Herbert (in Round 6), but neither of those players looks like a significant challenge to Montgomery’s outlook. The good news here is that fantasy drafters overall remain skeptical of the 3rd-year Bear. He’s going as RB20 early in Round 4 of FFPC best-ball drafts. He can fall well off his 2020 pace and still be fine at that level.

Montgomery enters his third NFL season after a terrific second half of 2020 vaulted him to a fourth-place finish in fantasy points. Montgomery's season started slowly, as he managed only top-12 fantasy week in nine games, but he took advantage of a huge workload and very light schedule after returning from injury in Week 12 and went on to post six-consecutive top-8 weeks to finish the season. Montgomery ranked 17th in touches (14.3 carries, 3.0 targets per game) and 25th in fantasy points during three weeks with a healthy Tarik Cohen, but was top-four in both categories (16.6 carries, 5.0 targets) once Cohen went down. Cohen is still not back, but Damien Williams and rookie Khalil Herbert were added, so combined with a much tougher schedule, Montgomery figures to return to earth. He's a fine RB2.

David Montgomery finished his second NFL season with a flourish, the most productive running back in the league over the final month. Tarik Cohen's early-season-ending injury, missing 13 games, fueled a spike in Montgomery's snaps and passing game involvement. Montgomery's targets nearly doubled from his rookie season and the Bears had minimal secondary running back presence after Cohen was lost for the year. Montgomery's usage in the passing game will be the biggest question mark with Cohen healthy this season and Damien Williams' addition a significant upgrade to their previous depth chart iterations.