Chicago Bears: 7 Offseason moves to make for 2020 to return to playoffs

Another running back is needed to help the running game

At the start of the 2019 season, the Chicago Bears felt they had a good rotation of running backs. They signed Mike Davis as a free agent and drafted Montgomery and Kerrith Whyte to play along with Tarik Cohen. Montgomery, Davis and Cohen would be the main guys with Whyte mostly playing special teams and occasionally helping in the running game.

None of that happened. Davis could not run the ball very well and, for some reason, the Bears decided to cut Whyte. I think Whyte will be a good running back and his speed will help him in the future.

What was left was a duo of Montgomery and Cohen. What happened hurt the running game almost as much as the offensive line’s deficiencies. Cohen is not your normal, every-down back. At his size (5-6, 190 pounds), he cannot be expected to work like that. Because of that, defenses could concentrate on stopping Montgomery.

Cohen needs to play more as a slot receiver who sometimes contributes to the running game. Have Montgomery and another back take the bulk of the carries and have Cohen do his thing every once in a while. That keeps the defense off-kilter trying to decide how to defend the running game.

There are plenty of good running backs available at a deal to help the Bears. They could go after someone in the draft, but it’ll be better to have a veteran backup behind Montgomery. The original plan was the right one, but they had the wrong player in Davis.