There was a run on offensive playmakers in the second and third rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft that was somewhat eye-opening. I saw it. You saw it. And I’m quite certain the Bears saw it.
With that in mind, it makes sense that they traded up from the 87th pick to snag the Patriots’ 73rd selection in order to take a prospect who could very well be the franchise’s next great running back:
https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/1121957777893666819
But how?
Our third trade of the night: #Patriots send picks no. 87, 162 and a 4th round pick in 2020 to the Bears for picks no. 73 and 205. #PatsDraft pic.twitter.com/97EjNIBEy5
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 27, 2019
Here’s the quick and dirty of the deal with the Patriots. The Bears have dealt their third-round pick (87th overall), fifth-round choice (162nd overall), and a 2020 fourth-round pick for the opportunity to draft Iowa State running back David Montgomery.
Montgomery was a star for the Cyclones. He racked up back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, picking up 1,146 yards in 2017 and another 1,216 in 2018. Montgomery scored 24 touchdowns in 25 games in that span, which is good because who doesn’t love having a running back who has a nose for the end zone? In addition to having a knack for finding paydirt, Montgomery proved to have reliable hands at Iowa State, catching 71 passes for 582 yards over the course of three seasons. We’ll get into the details later, but know that Montgomery has the profile of the type of dual-threat back the Bears want in their backfield.
Opinions varied on Montgomery, who wasn’t the speediest back in this draft. And we’ll get to that in due time. HOWEVER, Montgomery was productive and proved to be elusive (100 broken tackles on 258 carries, per PFF) whenever he had the ball in his hands – which was something the Bears were clearly looking to upgrade via the draft.
This marks the third consecutive draft in which GM Ryan Pace has moved up in the draft to select an offensive player. Soon, Montgomery will join Mitch Trubisky (20017 draft) and Anthony Miller (2018) as core members of Matt Nagy’s offense. And I can’t wait to see him join the party.