It turns out the Chicago Bears David Montgomery seed was planted a long time ago. The new running back who replaces Jordan Howard comes with high expectations. He's widely loved in the scouting community for his versatility, vision, toughness, and leadership. As it turns out, the team was made aware of his game early.
Back in 2017, Bears offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich had been fired by the University of Oregon as their head coach. Not wanting to jump right back into the fray, he decided to take an analyst job covering college football for Fox Sports. This eventually saw him cover Iowa State during the 2017 season.
It was there he got introduced to Montgomery and the impression made was substantial. Now two years later, Helfrich will finally have a chance to coach him.
Mark Helfrich probably saw a particular impressive David Montgomery game
So the big question is obvious. Of the games that Helfrich could've seen, which one was it? According to the Iowa State 2017 football schedule, there were four games covered by Fox sports networks. The first one came on October 7th against the Oklahoma Sooners. The same team that would eventually play in the national championship playoff.
Montgomery only ran for 55 yards on 3.2 per carry, but he scored a touchdown. Where he really stood out though was as a receiving threat. He caught seven passes in that game for 89 yards. The highest output of his college career. Oklahoma had a hard time covering him. Iowa State almost pulled off the upset but fell 38-31.
Helfrich being a guy who loves throwing to the running backs on offense? It makes perfect sense why that game would stick in the back of his head when the Bears came into the draft this year. He'd already have thought of several different ways to utilize Montgomery in this offense.
Having two years to think about it certainly offers an advantage.
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