Despite his team's recent lack of offensive success, Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery has continued to rack up the statistical achievements.

He's rushed for over 800 yards in each of his last 3 seasons, and has remained one of the offense's most consistent players in spite of the turmoil that's surrounded the organization over the last 2-3 years.

But according to NFL Network analyst Maurice Jones-Drew, that still isn't enough to for Montgomery to make his list where he predicted the NFL's top-10 leading rushers for the 2022 season.

It's ironic right off the bat considering Montgomery has the eighth-most rushing yards among all running backs since 2019 (2,808), but I digress.

In his list, Jones-Drew predicted at least ten running backs to outrush Montgomery this season. Most of those were notable names, including Titans running back Derrick Henry, Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, and Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.

But near the end of the list, an area where you'd expect the Bears' star back to land, he was nowhere to be found.

Instead, ahead of him were Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, and young 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell.

It's understandable why Montgomery is left off in favor of Mitchell and Elliott. Both of those players are either household, or becoming household names in the league wide running back discussion. And the Bears aren't particularly good offensively, with the skill positions being barren and Justin Fields being a bit of a question mark.

These details all combine to make up a good excuse as to why Montgomery isn't being given a lot of shine on lists like these. There's just too many questions offensively, and we don't know if the new coaching staff has the tools to address those accordingly.

But with the Bears' new staff, and a strong will to establish a run game this season, there's an argument to be made that Montgomery has a real chance at finishing as one of the league's ten best rushers this season.

These sort of rankings usually aren't given any attention by players. They are brushed aside in favor of more important things, like focusing on a season and doing the best possible job on the field when their number is called.

But when they are, they're labeled as pieces of motivation.

This one shouldn't be any different, especially for Montgomery as he continues to gain more and more respect around the league.

Featured image via Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports