Charles London has coached some really good running backs in his career. He worked with Matt Forte during his first two seasons in Chicago, spent a brief period with Chris Johnson in Tennessee, and then watched Arian Foster do his thing in Houston. These were all running backs who carried the offense on their backs for considerable stretches of their careers. So the Bears running backs coach knows what they’re supposed to look like. That is why his endorsement of David Montgomery is so encouraging.
London spoke with Adam Jahns of The Athletic on the young rookie running back. His comments haven’t just been favorable, they’ve been glowing. He cites two key things that make Montgomery a perfect fit for this offense. First and most obvious is his route running. The kid is able to line up in a variety of alignments and run sharp patterns to get himself open.
Then there is the contact balance. Despite being smaller and lighter than Jordan Howard, London actually believes Montgomery is harder to tackle. Rarely does he ever go down after the first or even second hits. Not a lot of running backs are capable of doing those things. Yet they aren’t even what makes Montgomery stand out the most.
David Montgomery is going to be a special leader for the Bears
London believes what often separates the good players from the really good and great is their willingness to embrace a leadership role. Think about the great Bears backs of history. Bronko Nagurski. Walter Payton. Forte. All were known for their talent but also their commanding presence in the locker room. Montgomery is made of similar stuff.
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“David is just focused on his plays, the playbook and fitting in,” running backs coach Charles London said during OTAs. “But I can see over time, as his career goes on, that he takes over a leadership role. I can see that happening.”
The Bears liked Montgomery going into the pre-draft process but weren’t sure if he was their guys. Not until they met him. That’s when everything changed.
“I finally got a chance to meet him at the combine, and he was as good as a person as I’d heard,” London said. “I really kind of fell in love with him there.”
It says something when a young man can make that big of an impression in just one meeting. Then again he had countless people swearing by him back at Iowa State. So it’s obvious Montgomery not only takes his role as leader seriously, but he’s quite good at it too. No team can ever have enough leaders.
