Running back: Human pinball with giant heart
The Bears drafted Iowa State running back David Montgomery with the 73rd pick after trading up in the third round with the Patriots on Friday. Here are five things to know about Montgomery, who will compete to start as a rookie.
1. He’s a human pinball.
Montgomery led the nation in forced missed tackles in each of the last two seasons, according to Pro Football Focus, a football data tracking and analysis site. In fact, Montgomery’s 109 forced missed tackles in 2017 and 102 last season are the two highest totals since PFF began tracking the stat in 2014.
Bears general manager Ryan Pace believes Montgomery’s ability to break tackles in the Big 12 will transfer to the NFL.
“When you play at the level he played at, and you see some full-out bluntcontact hits on him and his ability to bounce off those and keep his feet, that’s just low center of gravity, strong lower body, really good balance,” Pace said Friday night.
“He has that. So when you think about his ability to break tackles, his ball security, very good in short-yardage situations, there's just a lot of things that check off with him.”
2. His friendship with Hunter Erb exemplifies his giant heart.
Erb was 6 years old and facing death when his mother emailed the Iowa State football program in November 2017. Erb’s greatest wish was to score a touchdown for the Cyclones. But with complications from a congenital heart defect threatening his life, his mother, Stephanie, reached out to fast-forward his football fantasy.
As Hunter ran into the end zone one day at practice not long after, Montgomery served as his lead blocker. They developed a deep friendship that continues to this day, thanks to effective treatment, Hunter’s spirit and Stephanie’s determination. Many media outlets have profiled the relationship, including ESPN earlier this week.
“Once he scored, I got a thought in my head that God was pulling me toward him, and I needed to extend myself to talk to him more,” Montgomery told ESPN.
Besides that, as a youth, Montgomery achieved the level of Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America. His big project to reach Eagle status was collecting toiletries for homeless people, according to the Des Moines Register.
3. Montgomery has overcome major difficulties in his personal life.
The 21-year-old has described growing up in impoverished conditions in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Cincinnati with his mother, Roberta FelthaMitchell, and siblings.
“If the electricity got turned off, we’d always open the oven and stay warm,” Montgomery told Cincinnati.com for a pre-draft profile. “If the water got turned off, we’d get gallons of water from Speedway and boil water on the oven and put it in the tub.”
Montgomery eventually moved out of his mom’s house to live with his best friend. Football was partly an escape from reality and partly an outlet to channel his determination.
He and his mom shared their story before the draft in a five-minute video sponsored by Hyundai. It’s worth every second of your time.
Worst of all, Mongtomery’s brother, Maceo Feltha, is serving 15 years-tolife for murder after what authorities described as a drug deal gone bad in July 2015. Montgomery never has visited his brother in jail. In the Hyundai video, his mother says Maceo’s crime and incarceration both hurt and motivate David.
4. There’s a good chance Montgomery will open the season as the Bears’ starting running back.
He’ll compete with free-agent signee Mike Davis. Pace indicated Friday that regardless of who starts, both backs will contribute. That fits Matt Nagy’s preference for a rotation or committee of backs.
Montgomery “is just a well-rounded back,” Pace said. “It's everything you look for in a running back, starting with his instincts, his vision, his ability to make people miss. Good hands. He fits the offense very well.”
5. Montgomery was available in the third round because he lacks top-end speed.
He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds at the NFL scouting combine in late February, a disappointing time that isn’t quite an accurate reflection of his play speed.
By comparison, the two running backs drafted before him Friday — Penn State’s Miles Sanders and Memphis’ Darrell Henderson — each ran the 40 in 4.49 seconds.
“The combine numbers, I think when you watch this guy play, you can see the burst and acceleration that he plays with,” Pace said. “That was a non-issue for us.”
Said Montgomery: “The combine testing was definitely not the way I wanted to perform, but it was a long week. Just trying to make sure I got my head, my mental (state) right. But it didn’t go the way I wanted it to. But that was OK because I was able to go back the next weekend and get ready for my pro day, and I’m happy it ended up going the way it did.”