Last year the Chicago Bears draft class make a rare achievement when three of its players were named to the NFL All-Rookie team. They were Roquan Smith, James Daniels, and Bilal Nichols. A surefire sign that GM Ryan Pace had done some amazing work in 2018. So is it possible for him to have any sort of encore in 2019?
That may be asking a lot. Not only did the Bears have just five picks this offseason, they also had none in the 1st or 2nd rounds. Nichols may have been a 5th round pick but that’s still a difficult task to pull off. Nonetheless, Pace gave it his best effort. He secured some intriguing talents like David Montgomery in the 3rd round and Riley Ridley in the 4th.
Both were highly regarded in the draft community as potential early starters in their careers. Daniel Jeremiah even ranked them as top 50 players in the class. Keep in mind they were chosen at #73 and #126 respectively. Pretty good value. That may be why Chad Reuter of NFL.com was so confident putting one of them on his predicted All-Rookie team.
“Running back: David Montgomery, Chicago Bears (Round 3, No. 73). Montgomery will be what Jordan Howard wasn’t for the Bears last season: elusive, and able to regularly break off 5- or 6-yard runs to keep the chains moving.”
Chicago Bears draft pick David Montgomery would make big history if this happened
Montgomery being the choice is hardly a surprise. He’s their highest pick and running backs tend to have the highest chance for early career success. Especially in Chicago. If the young running back is able to pull off this achievement, he’d be the fourth to do so in a Bears uniform since the dawn of the new millennium in 2000.
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The others were Anthony Thomas (2001), Matt Forte (2008), and Jordan Howard (2016). Rather fitting since the line of succession has been that way for years now. Howard replaced Forte. Now Montgomery is replacing Howard. Chicago would be the unquestioned king of All-Rookie running backs should this prediction come to pass.
If nothing else it would be early validation that Pace made the right decision going up to get him back in April.
