20/20: David Montgomery
Welcome to the 20/20 series. As part of our continued Dynasty Scouts coverage and in preparation for the NFL Combine, we will be profiling 20 of the top incoming rookies of the class of 2019 by giving you 20 facts you must know.
1.) Player Name – David Montgomery
2.) College – Iowa State Cyclones
3.) Height/Weight – 5’11”, 219 lbs
4.) Birthdate – 6/7/1997
5.) Class – Junior
6.) Basic college stats
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Statistics from sports-reference.com.
7.) NFL Draft round projection – Montgomery is currently projected to be selected somewhere in the first three rounds by most draft publications. The 2019 running back group doesn’t have any players expected to be taken in the top ten, and some mock drafts have no running backs forecasted for the first round.
Montgomery has some knocks on his physical upside and will need to put on a show in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine. With a strong showing in the 40-yard dash, he could boost his draft stock.
8.) Current NFL comparison – Montgomery is a solid three-down running back who shows real talent as a pass-catching back with good hands. He has some technique issues in pass blocking, but shows a willingness to get in and slow down pass rushers. I thought Chris Trapasso said it best when he called Montgomery a “shiftier version of James Conner”.
I see a talented Ryan Mathews at times, a player whose career was derailed by injuries. Montgomery’s ability to contribute at all three downs makes him a special talent for fantasy football fans as he will contribute points as a receiver and can be on the field at all times.
9.) Best possible destination – With Jay Ajayi dealing with injuries to his right knee and coming off a season cut short by a torn ACL in his left knee, Philadelphia Eagles could benefit by drafting Montgomery to take over in 2019. The Eagles offense would get a boost and provide Carson Wentz with a healthy three-down back to ease the load as he comes back from injury.
Damien Williams is currently holding down the spot as the Chiefs running back post Kareem Hunt in Kansas City. If the Chiefs were to take a running back of Montgomery’s caliber, he would catapult up rookie drafts. Montgomery’s three-down profile would make him a top 24 running back with a heavy projected workload.
The Texans are one final team I could see targeting a running back early in the 2019 draft. The team has other needs especially along the offensive line but if they target the offensive line early and Montgomery is still there in round two or three, I could see Houston targeting a running back to pair with DeAndre Hopkins and Deshaun Watson in that offense.
10.) Worst possible destination – Obviously the Rams, Giants or Cowboys if Montgomery fails to impress at the NFL Combine, and for whatever reason, if a team with an already established back selects Montgomery. Similar to how many liked John Kelly pre-draft, but his stock plummeted when he went to the Rams and sat on the bench behind Todd Gurley.
It is hard to find a bad destination for Montgomery. If he has the draft capital and lands on a team, he should, at worst, get enough of a workload to be a serviceable running back for fantasy owners. A situation like the Bills could depress his value in rookie drafts from the top half of drafts to the bottom, but he still holds value if drafted within the top two rounds of the NFL draft.
11.) Best current skill – Contact balance and yards after contact (YAC) ability. Iowa State had a very poor offensive line, as evidenced by their rankings over at Football Outsiders. The Cyclones’ line ranked near the bottom in every single rushing category tracked. The team ranked 97th out of 128 for Line Yards per Carry, their metric which tracks yardage gained and gives the line more credit for short yardage gains and less credit to longer runs.
Pro Football Focus College tracked Montgomery with 94 missed tackles and 892 yards after contact. This is just ten tackles short of his PFF record-breaking 2017 with 64 more yards after contact.
12.) Skill that needs to be improved – Athleticism. On film review, it seems he is average in burst and long speed. He doesn’t appear to have that pure explosiveness, but wins with great vision and an ability to gain yards after contact.
13.) Past/current rookie ADP – Dynasty League Football’s very own Travis May ran a 2019 Rookie NFL mock poll. Montgomery was seen as the pick 1.03 in this draft. Currently, Montgomery is going is going about pick 1.07 in DLF rookie ADP mock draft data.
14.) Projected dynasty value – ‘The man’ of dynasty himself, Ryan McDowell, selected David Montgomery with pick 6.01 in the recent DLF dynasty mock draft. Owners in startup drafts can expect to pay the same price, and possibly higher, depending on landing spot during their startup drafts.
15.) Recruiting Profile – David Montgomery was seen as a three-star recruit coming out of Mt Healthy in Cincinnati, Ohio on 247sports. Montgomery only had five offers out of high school. He attended Iowa State over offers from Miami Ohio, Illinois, Purdue, and Marshall. He was ranked as the 1,203rd player overall nationally, and their 74th-ranked running back in the 2016 recruiting class.
16.) College Awards – Montgomery won or received recognition for the following while at Iowa State (from team website):
- First-Team All-American – PFF (2017, 2018)
- Jason Witten Man of the Year Semifinalist (2018)
- First-Team All-Big 12 – AP, ESPN (2018)
- Second-Team All-Big 12 – Coaches (2018)
- Second-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2018)
- First-Team All-Big 12 – Coaches, AP, ESPN (2017)
- HM All-American – SB Nation (2017)
- Doak Walker Award Watch List (2017, 2018)
- Ray Scott Outstanding Offensive Skill Player Award (2017)
- HM Freshman All-America- Campus Insiders (2016)
17.) High School Production –
Stats from Iowa State team page
18.) Track and Field athlete – In the 12lb shot put, Montgomery posted a personal record of 52’ 5.5” and in the 1.6kg discus, he has a PR of 168’1”.
19.) Growing up – Has five brothers and sisters and was raised mostly by his mother.
20.) Off Field – Montgomery is an Eagle Scout and completed community service activities including gathering toiletries for the homeless and helping prepare his high school gym with the school athletics director. Montgomery also enjoys fishing and is considered a gym freak with his workouts and is studious in his film study.
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Pete is a Western Washington University (Go Vikings! Undefeated at Football since 2009!) History grad with a doctorate in dynasty football, from a certificate he bought online. He prefers stats and analytics but realizes film grinding is an important part of the process. Dabbles in "Mild Takes" and believes in the process.
