The most underrated player on each Detroit Lions NFC North rival

Chicago Bears: RB David Montgomery

When thinking of the top dozen or so running backs in the NFL, Montgomery’s name won’t easily come to mind. But he has been a workhorse for the Bears over the last two seasons, and among the top-10 running backs in the league in touches and total yards over that span. A bad offensive line has diminished his results, particularly in short yardage situations, but he still had a respectable seven scores on the ground last year in 13 games.

Due in part to Tarik Cohen’s injury issues, Montgomery’s role as a pass catcher has grown over the last two seasons (96 total catches, 119 targets). But he has been productive from an efficiency standpoint for his entire career (7.7 yards per catch, five total drops over 2020 and 2021),

As a third-round pick in 2019, Montgomery is entering the final year of his rookie contract. So he naturally wouldn’t mind a contract extension, the question is if the new regime in Chicago has any inclination to do it.

But it’s fair to assume Montgomery will be a focal point of the Chicago offense again this year, with a thin wide receiver group and a former defensive coordinator in place as head coach. I’ll bet you didn’t realize he was tied for fifth in the league in rushing yards in 2020 (1,070), which only confirms how underrated he is.

Honorable Mention: WR Darnell Mooney