David Montgomery is no slouch as an RB2 behind Jahmyr Gibbs, who is close to breaking Barry Sanders' record for number of rushing touchdowns scored before the age of 24. Montgomery has 635 rushing yards under his belt along with eight touchdowns on the year, and he's consistently hovered around 800-1,000 rushing yards per season for each year of his seven year career.
It's what makes his usage this season by both John Morton and Dan Campbell quite confusing.
Montgomery has been a wrecking ball for the Lions up front, averaging 5.9 rushing yards per game over the Lions' last three contests. He seems to be one of the more consistent weapons for the Lions as their interior offensive line continues to fold each week. Even Gibbs, who has been electric for most of this season, has been struggling as of late: averaging just 3.3 yards per carry.
His strong running compared to Gibbs' sleeker, albeit easier to take down when forced up the middle, style of running should be getting utilized a whole lot more against strong defensive lines like that of the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers. Instead, his usage continues to dip, confusing fans and Montgomery himself, seemingly.
David Montgomery INSTAGRAM story: pic.twitter.com/wXicONDc77
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Lions have a huge Montgomery-Gibbs usage problem
We've heard repeatedly from the Lions and Campbell that they're looking to both get Montgomery more involved and keep getting Gibbs as many touches as possible within that scheme. Obviously, you want to ride the hot hand, but it was obvious that against the Rams, the answer was not Gibbs.
He only ran for 38 yards against the Rams on 13 carries, while Montgomery was only given seven carries for 32 yards. There's no reason why Gibbs, who had clearly looked spry in the role of WR3 alongside Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, couldn't have taken more snaps in that slot with Montgomery taking more touches at running back.
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There were a few highly questionable decisions from Campbell against the Rams, and the misuse of Montgomery is surely one of them. Last season's Lions offense found a much more balanced attack between Sonic and Knuckles, so much so that they warranted a nickname to appropriately describe their synced attack.
Now, fans are lucky if they see Montgomery for more than three series at a time, which feels like malpractice with the Lions' backs against the wall ahead of a postseason push.