Chicago Bears: 3 players who would benefit most from Pat Shurmur

1. Running Back David Montgomery

I might be in the minority, but I don’t think we saw the best possible David Montgomery we could have seen in 2019. A lot of factors come into play with that hunch. Obviously, the Bears’ offensive line was as bad as we’ve seen since the days of J’Marcus Webb. Play-calling could have been better.

At times, Montgomery looked as though he took too much time searching for a hole when, in fact, there was none. I’ll give him his critique where it’s due, sure. He did hesitate often. But, when your offensive line isn’t opening any lanes, it’s hard not to get a little hesitant.

Shurmur has been part of some great run games. We don’t have to talk much about Saquon Barkley, because he is one of the best backs in the league and had little-to-nothing around him the last two years. But, he was heavily used, especially in the passing game — and I think that’s where we could see Montgomery used a lot more in the coming season.

We’ve talked extensively about Shurmur’s history with the run game, here. He’s helped lead rushing attacks that finish near the top of the league many times. LeSean McCoy won the rushing title in 2013 with Shurmur as his offensive coordinator. The 2017 Vikings finished averaging 122 yards per game on the ground without Dalvin Cook for almost the whole year.

In Chicago, it would be Shurmur’s top priority to help fix the offensive line, along with Nagy and Juan Castillo, the new offensive line coach. That has to be priority number one this offseason, and if they indeed improve, I would look for Shurmur to get Montgomery much more involved and on a much earlier basis each week.