Chicago Bears: Ranking NFC North running back groups

4. Chicago Bears

Sadly, I cannot argue with placing the Bears last on this list, and believe me, they do have some talent — but, not enough.

I don’t think we truly got to see what David Montgomery could do if given the opportunities, especially because of how poor the offensive line played in his rookie year. He only averaged 3.7 yards per carry, but even as a rookie, showed how great he was at breaking tackles. Still, his talent alone wasn’t enough to fully break out. He was touched before getting to the line of scrimmage more often than not.

Montgomery finished with 889 yards on 242 carries in 2019, also scoring six touchdowns on the ground. He caught just 25 passes for 185 yards and a score through the air.

Behind Montgomery is somewhat of an enigma, Tarik Cohen. No one is sure if he is going to return to the guy he was over his first two seasons, but his future contract is depending on it, so he’s going to need to bounce back.

We’ve talked a lot here about Cohen’s indecisiveness over the 2019 campaign, and him being less committed to moving straight ahead. He danced around a lot last season and seemed far less himself.

If Nagy is going to use him in a variety of ways offensively, then Cohen has a solid chance of coming back into his own.

Aside from Cohen, the Bears don’t have much by way of depth, which could be a reason they wait a little while to bring in a veteran for the number three spot. Or, they’ll stick with Ryan Nall or Artavis Pierce. We will see.