David Montgomery out to prove he's a top-tier RB in NFL originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
After putting up 1,070 rushing yards, tied-for fifth most in the NFL last season, David Montgomery wants people to start putting some respect on his name. Speaking with the “Type S***” podcast on Sunday, Montgomery said it’s high time that he’s considered one of the best running backs in the league.
“I’m hungry,” Montgomery said. “People gotta pay, I’ve been disrespected for far too long. They just put other guys… ahead of me. They put me out of the top-10 running backs after I just rushed top-five in the league last year. It’s just a whole lot of disrespect going on. But it’s cool, because I’m like, ‘Everybody pay.’”
It is confusing why pundits across the country seem to be so low on Montgomery after his sophomore season. The Bears’ struggles on the offensive line and difficulty getting the run game have been well documented, but Montgomery still notched the fourth-most carries in the league and, as mentioned earlier, he tied for the fifth-most yards. Clearly he’s an important piece to the Bears offense.
But still, after scouring the web, it appears NFL.com has ranked Montgomery the highest among all NFL running backs heading into the 2021 season, at No. 7. Meanwhile, Pro Football Network has him at 17. When looking at fantasy rankings, Yahoo! has Montgomery ranked No. 19 overall. Fantasy Pros lists him at 20, behind names like D’Andre Swift, Cam Akers and rookie RB Najee Harris.
“At first it was about proving everybody wrong, but now it’s about proving myself right,” Montgomery said. “Let folks know I stopped doing this for them a long time ago. This is personal for me.”
Montgomery should receive some motivation from inside Halas Hall as well. The team will get Tarik Cohen back from injury, plus Ryan Pace added Damien Williams in free agency and drafted Khalil Herbert.
Montgomery will have his first chance to prove himself right (and all the haters wrong) on Sept. 12 when they face the Rams and one of the toughest defensive lines in the league, in primetime on Sunday Night Football.
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