Ty Montgomery got thrust into the role as the emergency running back for the Green Bay Packers last year, and as it turns out he loved it. He loved it so much that he wasn’t particularly interested in going back to being a receiver, which is obvious when you consider he bulked up to 224 pounds this offseason.
Head coach Mike McCarthy is extremely excited about Montgomery as a running back heading into 2017. He told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network “he’s the full threat” now, among other things.
Mentioned on @nflnetwork: #Packers coach Mike McCarthy is high on "the full threat" Ty Montgomery, now 224 pounds. What McCarthy told me: pic.twitter.com/3VYEhLEgIW
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 31, 2017
When Montgomery traded in his receiver card last season, it was thought by many that he would struggle in the same way all other Packers running backs struggled. That didn’t happen. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry during the regular season and scored three times on the ground.
His 457 rushing yards also saved Green Bay from making Aaron Rodgers its top runner (369 yards on the ground), and much of that was accomplished in the final games.
Obviously, the fact that Montgomery was a receiver at Stanford and last year in Green Bay means he is very good catching the ball out of the backfield. With that in mind, assuming he gets proficient in pass protection, it seems plausible he could become a complete, three-down back for the Packers.
That could only bode well for a team that already features the best pure passer in the game, not to mention a potent receiving corps.