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David Montgomery

Impressive debut for Bears third-rounder

Of all the exhibition performances I've watched so far, David Montgomery's stands out as one of the main highlights. He touched the ball just 7 times (one erased by a penalty), but 5 of them struck me as pretty impressive.

One one of his 3 receptions, he snagged a poorly thrown ball that a lot of running backs wouldn't have caught. On the longest one, he used a nifty head-fake in the open field to confuse a defender and get some extra yards. Among his runs, 2 had stutter-step moves to pick up yards (including a touchdown), while the third featured a spin move in traffic to turn nothing into a 5-yard gain.

Already, I'm regretting having used my No. 2 overall rookie pick on N'Keal Harry instead of Montgomery. It's early. But Harry isn't getting as much buzz as an undrafted rookie receiver on his own roster, and he got hurt in the preseason opener.

Montgomery, of course, has some competition for snaps in Chicago. They've got Tarik Cohen for passing downs, and Mike Davis actually started and played the first series on Thursday. But I don't think anyone watching Montgomery doubted he belongs in the league.

There were a bunch of intriguing third-round picks this year. Every one of them, in fact, has enjoyed some degree of preseason hype. Darrell Henderson for the Rams, Devin Singletary for Buffalo, Damien Harris for New England, and even Alexander Mattison in Minnesota. Would anyone be surprised if at least three of these guys started a bunch of games this year? Not me.

Since 2000, there have been 52 other third-round picks. Tough (but not impossible) for those guys to make a big impact in their rookie seasons. Six of them (12 percent) have gone over 1,000 total yards in their first seasons. Eight more (so nearly 1 in 3) went over 700 total yards. I think that's about what to expect from this crop of third-rounders -- 700 total yards for most of them is a reasonable target, and some chance one or two of them are even better.

3RD-ROUND RUNNING BACKS, ROOKIE SEASONS (2000-PRESENT)
YearPkPlayerRunRecTotTD
201970Darrell Henderson, LAR????
201973David Montgomery, Chi.????
201974Devin Singletary, Buff.????
201987Damien Harris, N.E.????
2019102Alexander Mattison, Minn.????
201786Kareem Hunt, K.C.1327455178211
200889Steve Slaton, Hou.1282377165910
201767Alvin Kamara, N.O.728826155414
200864Kevin Smith, Det.97628612628
201171DeMarco Murray, Dall.89718310802
201586David Johnson, Ariz.581457103813
201577Duke Johnson, Clev.3795349132
201475Tre Mason, St.L.7651489135
201595Matt Jones, Wash.4903047944
200180Kevan Barlow, S.F.5122477595
200565Frank Gore, S.F.6081317393
201494Terrance West, Clev.673647375
200679Jerious Norwood, Atl.6331027352
200063Travis Prentice, Clev.5121917038
201496Jerick McKinnon, Minn.5381356730
200873Jamaal Charles, K.C.3572726291
200165James Jackson, Clev.554566102
201871Royce Freeman, Den.521725935
201284Bernard Pierce, Balt.532475791
200185Travis Minor, Mia.2812635444
200965Shonn Greene, NYJ54005402
200076J.R. Redmond, N.E.4061265323
200284Lamar Gordon, St.L.2282785063
201173Stevan Ridley, N.E.441134541
201789D'Onta Foreman, Hou.327834102
201573Tevin Coleman, Atl.392144061
201267Ronnie Hillman, Den.330623921
201690C.J. Prosise, Sea.1722083801
201469Charles Sims, T.B.1851903751
201396Knile Davis, K.C.242753175
200974Glen Coffee, S.F.226763021
200577Ryan Moats, Phil.27872853
200393Chris Brown, Tenn.221612820
200291Brian Westbrook, Phil.193862790
200573Vernand Morency, Hou.184872712
201673Kenyan Drake, Mia.179462252
200396Justin Fargas, Oak.20322050
200793Garrett Wolfe, Chi.851172020
200869Jacob Hester, S.D.95911862
201594Ty Montgomery, G.B.141361502
2017105James Conner, Pitt.14401440
200771Lorenzo Booker, Mia.12501250
201497Dri Archer, Pitt.4023630
200674Brian Calhoun, Det.1920390
200377Musa Smith, Balt.310312
201196Alex Green, G.B.116170
200790Tony Hunt, Phil.160161
200182Heath Evans, Sea.110110
200385B.J. Askew, NYJ9090
2005101Maurice Clarett, Den.0000
200081Rueben Droughns, Det.0000
200088Doug Chapman, Minn.0000

All of those guys who started out with 1,000-total yard seasons, incidentally, turned out pretty well. Maybe not Steve Slaton; injuries were a factor. A few good 600-700-yard guys (Frank Gore, Jamaal Charles). Anyway, looks like a good group of 3rd-rounders this year.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index