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David Montgomery grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He never met his biological father, and is one of five children. He grew up in a rough neighborhood, under tough circumstances. He had this to say to CBS about his upbringing:
"Typical average African-American family living a religion of poverty, place of poverty... If the electricity got turned off, we'd always open the oven & stay warm. If the water got turned off, we'd get gallons of water from Speedway & boil water on the oven & put it in the tub."
As a freshman in high school, he looked at his mother and promised her that she wouldn’t have to pay for his college education. He has always been a hard worker and he started his journey to a massively productive high school career as a dual-threat QB.
His life took an unexpected turn when his brother was convicted of a murder in 2015. His family couldn’t afford lawyers, and the rendering of a guilty verdict was swift. He is now serving a 15 years to life sentence. David stays in regular communication with him.
He does even more than that. "I give him $100 every two weeks... I pay for my bills. Then the leftover, I send to him. I try to keep low key with it." I don’t know about your maturity level in college, but it’s safe to say that mine was nowhere close to Montgomery’s.
On the field, he kept grinding, working to make good on his promise to his mom. Montgomery didn’t have a single scholarship offer as he entered into his senior year of high school. Iowa State’s Wide Receivers Coach, Bryan Gasser, was previously a coach at Toledo where Montgomery
participated in a camp. Many of the coaches felt he was the best player at that camp. Gasser, now at Iowa State, had this to say about the lack of interest in Montgomery:
It’s one of the biggest mysteries I’ve ever come across in recruiting, and I still can’t figure out how we got the kid. I think he should be playing anywhere in the country. You watch his film, and he’s unstoppable, you look at his numbers and they’re video-game numbers.
He was the most dominant player in that area and in the state of Ohio. I couldn’t figure it out.”
He was a two-star that didn’t have a single college football offer before his senior season. Toledo, and then head coach Matt Campbell, wanted him but they didn’t have room.
He was a two-star that didn’t have a single college football offer before his senior season. Toledo, and then head coach Matt Campbell, wanted him but they didn’t have room.
Once he took the ISU job, they called him the next day and offered him a full scholarship. He made good on his promise. As a senior, he ran for 2,707 yards and scored 48 TD. Montgomery was the 73rd ranked RB in the 2016 class.
Day after he arrived on campus, he went to coaching staff and asked for extra work he could do, in order to prepare him to see the field early on. The staff recalls seeming him in facility late on Friday night in January working out by himself. Soon after, his team joined him.
That kid is the reason why this program changed," Matt Campbell said. He contributed as a freshman. Late in that 2016 season is actually when I first discovered him. In November, he had double digit carries in all four games. He finished the month with 66-385 rushing.
He had 692 rush & rec yards as 19 year old TrFR. In 2017, that’s when things really picked up for him. Thanks largely in part to PFF, Montgomery became an phenom of the analytics. His 258-1146-11 rushing was good for a sophomore. His 4.4 YPC was scoffed at by some.
However, this is where we need to give it some context. Several advanced metrics that are designed to rate the play of an offensive line graded the ISU OL amongst the worst outfits in the nation. They ranked in the worst 15% of run blocking units in CFB.
Montgomery had to create for himself. His 109 forced missed tackles were the most recorded by any player since PFF started in 2014. They didn’t have a single OL that ranked in the top 114 run blockers in the country. They also cycled through QBs like a Kardashian through the NBA.
Marinate on this: Montgomery averaged 4.4 YPC. He averaged 3.5 YPC AFTER CONTACT. That means on average, Montgomery never even got a full yard past the LOS before he was hit by a defender. Let’s look at another back that PFF loved last year, Ronald Jones.
RoJo averaged 6.3 YPC. He also averaged 3.5 YPC AFTER CONTACT. That means he was contacted on average 2.8 yards past the LOS, compared to Monty’s .90. Is part of that responsibility on the RB? ABSOLUTELY. Is most of it? HECK NO. Let’s take a look at 2018:
More of the same. Monty rushes for 257-1216-13. 4.7 YPC - BOO! The ISU OL showed improvement, they checked in on average the 100th ranked run blocking in the country (Out of 130) which puts them in bottom 20%, but better than 2017.
Lets check in with PFF for the advanced metrics. He forced 94 missed tackles this season. He gained 892 if his 1,216 rushing yards after contact. That means that once again, he had to do an incredible amount of creating on his own. He was contacted on average 1.3 yards from LOS.
To give some updated context, Wisconsin RB Jonathan Taylor graded out as PPF All American. He averaged 7.1 YPC. He gained 1,175 yards AFTER CONTACT this year. Awesome. The difference, he wasn’t touched for the first 3.3 yards from the LOS on average, a full 2 yards later than DM.
Take that a step further, he is actually able to get up a head of steam on the overwhelming majority of runs, as opposed to shucking a would-be-tackler or two behind the LOS, in order to labor to gain four yards. YPC is largely an indicator of two things: quality of OL & RB speed
That’s an oversimplification, but it’s the most accurate and digestible bites I can boil it down to. Monty’s career 4.7 YPC is going to deter many dynasty players from drafting him. Frank Gore avg 4.8 YPC in college and that was lowest 17th% for NFL backs.
Speaking of Gore, it actually wouldn’t surprise me if Monty graded out as a comparable athlete at the combine. Would guess 100-110 SPARQ-x. Gore is an outlier, Monty is too. I understand players with very strict boundaries on their selection guidelines won’t be interested in DM.
That’s understandable. More often than not, those parameters likely help keep them safe. I would contend that in this instance, it won’t. Aside from his contact balance and tenacity, Monty’s receiving ability is amongst best in this class.
"He would be one of our best receivers," Campbell said of Montgomery. "He's one of our better route runners." Monty caught 71 passes for 582 yards. He can catch balls on all routes out of backfield and has ability to split out as a WR. He’s the mismatch NFL RBs need to be in 2019
He’s got a similar play style to Kareem Hunt, who was also coached by Matt Campbell. The good news about DM, you won’t have to worry about any off-field incidents. He determined long ago that he was going to overcome his circumstances and be a great man and football player.
In high school, he was an Eagle Scout. In college, when he wasn’t at the football facility, he was volunteering in the community and holding the hand of a sick, six year old boy in the hospital while he was poked 11 times with needle to find a vein. He’s an exemplary human being.
I simplify RB evaluation to two key components: Can he create? Can he catch? The answer is a resounding YES for DM. He creates better than any player in college football over the past five years. If he’s drafted by team with top 5 worst OL in NFL, he’s proven he can produce.
His current price tag is very high in presumptive rookie drafts. The athletic portion of combine and abundance of great WR could help keep his value reasonable. I believe that should Monty land well, he should be in contention for this class’ RB1.
Lastly, who wouldn’t want a back like this?! 😂
Quick amendment, he may be one of six kids, not five.
