Bears Sign Damien Williams: David Montgomery Fantasy Football Value In Jeopardy? The Chicago Bears agreed to terms with former Kansas City Chiefs running back Damien Williams on a one-year contract. This move should not be a surprise, considering there wasn’t much depth to their backfield outside of Tarik Cohen and wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson.
The signing of Damien Williams makes a lot of sense from a pure football standpoint, but does it affect David Montgomery’s fantasy football value?
Bears Sign Damien Williams: David Montgomery’s Fantasy Football Value In Jeopardy?
Bears Sign Damien Williams
Before opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID 19 concerns, Damien Williams had his best year in the 2019 season. He had over 50 carries (111) for the first time in his NFL career and rushed for just 498 yards.
There’s no doubt the last production we saw from Damien Williams in Super Bowl LIV was exciting. He averaged 6.1 yards per carry on 17 rushes for a total of 104 yards. Williams looked explosive on a 38-yard touchdown run and added a receiving touchdown to give the Chiefs the lead with 2:44 left in the game.
The Bears signed Damien Williams, seen here scoring a TD in Super Bowl LIV in 2020. Does his arrival hurt David Montgomery’s fantasy football value for 2021? (Image: USA TODAY Sports)
These numbers, although impressive, should not scare anyone off David Montgomery in 2021.
Prior to the 2019 season, Damien Williams had a career total of 183 carries in five seasons (2014-2018). That five-year total would still rank him outside of the top 15 attempts for running backs in the 2020 season alone.
I’m not bringing this up to bash Damien Williams. He’s just not a typical lead back and that’s ok. He is capable of handling an increased workload should David Montgomery miss time. This may have been a key factor for adding someone like Damien Williams to the roster.
The Bears had the foresight to add depth at the running back position especially now that the NFL has added another game to the regular season. Teams are going to want and share the load where they can to keep their players fresh and healthy.
David Montgomery: Bears’ Workhorse
Montgomery is clearly the Bears’ workhorse running back to roster in fantasy. In 15 games in the 2020 season, he rushed for 1,070 yards and added another 438 yards on 54 receptions. Montgomery capped off his year with the 5th-most rushing yards on the 4th-most attempts and ranked 5th in receptions and 4th in receiving yards among running backs.
Damien Williams is a great complementary back in this offense. He’s someone who can give Montgomery a breather when needed without taking away significant volume or impacting pass-catching opportunities.
Tarik Cohen will be coming off of an ACL tear he suffered in Week 3 last season. If there is going to be any negative impact on David Montgomery’s volume in 2021, it’s going to come from Cohen’s involvement in the passing game.
Damien Williams is a solid running back and a decent insurance policy should something happen to the lead guy. As long as Montgomery remains healthy, Williams will not be a fantasy asset in most leagues in 2021. Williams is a sneaky player to roster in deeper leagues and someone you may want to consider rostering as a handcuff to Montgomery.
As far as Montgomery goes, his value isn’t hindered by the addition of Damien Williams. The RB4 of the 2020 season should continue to see a major workload and production for the Bears and your fantasy football teams in 2021.
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