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Will Harris Jersey , Ill. (AP) — Walter Payton on his grandfather’s VCR, so consider this a moment of sweetness.The Chicago Bears addressed one of their biggest needs with their first pick in the draft, trading up with the New England Patriots to take the star running back from Iowa State on Friday night.Montgomery said he felt “grateful, blessed.” And being drafted by Chicago was particularly special.“I watched Walter Payton when I was younger,” he said. “Seeing how he ran, trying to correlate a lot of the ways he ran into my game.”Chicago moved up 14 spots to grab Montgomery at No. 73 overall, making him the first Cyclones player drafted since 2014. The 5-foot-10, 222-pound Montgomery ran for 2,925 yards and 26 touchdowns in three seasons. He had 1,216 yards rushing and 13 TDs as a junior.Chicago also acquired a sixth-round pick (205), while New England got the No. 87 pick and a fifth-rounder (162) this year as well as a fourth-round selection in 2020.“He’s just a well-rounded back,” general manager Ryan Pace said. “It’s everything you look for in a running back, starting with his instincts, his vision
Austin Bryant Jersey , his ability to make people miss. He’s just a well-rounded player. Good hands. He fits the offense very well.”The Bears had a long wait with no picks in the first two rounds for the first time since 2010. They came into the draft in a far different spot after winning the NFC North at 12-4 in coach Matt Nagy’s first season. The Monsters of the Midway ended a string of four straight last-place finishes and made the playoffs for just the second time since the 2006 team’s Super Bowl run.They sent their first-round pick this year to Oakland in the blockbuster deal for All-Pro edge rusher Khalil Mack just before the start of last season. And they dealt their second-rounder to New England a year ago when they traded up to get receiver Anthony Miller in the second round.Montgomery is known as a calm, patient runner with size and toughness and a knack for breaking tackles. He ranked third in the Big 12 in yards rushing per game at 101.3 last season.Montgomery also had 71 receptions over three years despite playing in a run-based offense. And Pace sees someone with “natural hands” who can be a good route runner.His ability to catch passes out of the backfield is a big plus, considering Nagy’s system favors running backs who can do just that.Howard’s deficiencies in the passing game made him an odd fit and helped punch his ticket out of town, with the Bears trading him to Philadelphia in March. He went from making the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2016 and running for more than 1,100 yards in each of his first two seasons to setting a career low with 935 last season. His 250 carries were also the fewest for him, though he still had more combined attempts than the other running backs currently on Chicago’s roster — Tarik Cohen, Mike Davis, Taquan Mizzell Sr. and Ryan Nall. Even with receiver Cordarrelle Patterson expected to get some carries, there still was room for another running back.In Montgomery, Pace believes the Bears will have an immediate contributor. As impressed as he was with his physical skills, something else stood out.“There are incredible stories about his work ethic,” Pace said. “Going up to the facility late at night and bringing teammates with him to watch additional tape and get extra work in. You just hear one thing after another about his professional approach to the game, how important it is to him and his work ethic is off the charts. And how infectious that was to the entire team there.”Chicago heads into the final day of the draft with one pick each in the fourth and sixth rounds, plus two seventh-rounders.The Bears might look for help at tight end and the defensive backfield not to mention kicker
Rashan Gary Jersey , where they have a major hole. Chicago let Cody Parkey go after one rough season that ended with a double-doink miss off the upright and crossbar on a potential winning field goal at the end of the wild-card loss to Philadelphia. The Bears have three kickers with no experience — Redford Jones, Chris Blewitt and Elliott Fry.“Looking at the board right now and where we’re at, I feel really good about the draft tomorrow (Saturday),” Pace said. “Like I said a couple of days ago, this is a very deep draft, especially in the later rounds and yeah, I think we’re going to be able to hit a lot of good players tomorrow.” SEATTLE (AP) — Larry Fitzgerald would only commit to one event taking place after the final game of his 15th NFL season and at least for now it had nothing to do with a retirement ceremony.“I feel like we’ve done this dance before. Same song, same dance,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m going to go play golf tomorrow, I know that. I’m looking forward to it.”Fitzgerald’s future will remain one of the big questions going into the Arizona Cardinals offseason after finishing off 2018 with a 27-24 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The loss ensured the Cardinals will have the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, but also did little to settle any uncertainty about the future of head coach Steve Wilks after a disappointing first season in Arizona.Whether Fitzgerald is around to play with that No. 1 selection is going to be a wait and see matter.“I told him he was coming back. I told him I’ll see him next year in the spring and to get ready for OTAs,” Cardinals running back David Johnson said.In the finale of his 15th season, Fitzgerald still looked the part of an NFL wide receiver and exceptional pass catcher with four catches for 36 yards. He caught the 116th touchdown pass of his career and became the third player with at least 1,300 career receptions. He matched the franchise record for career games played with his 234th game in a Cardinals uniform and became the second wide receiver in league history with 2
Darnell Savage Jr. Jersey ,000 yards receiving against three different teams joining Jerry Rice.His first reception came on the final play of the first quarter and extended his streak to 227 straight games with a catch. His best catch was in the second quarter as he initially faked a block, slipped behind cornerback Akeem King and made a one-handed reception for his sixth touchdown of the season.His 116 career TDs are tied for sixth with Chargers tight end Antonio Gates.“I was smiling at him when he came off the sidelines. He caught it with his fingertips. It’s unbelievable,” Wilks said. “What he does never seems to surprise me. It’s just unbelievable.”Fitzgerald finished the season with 69 receptions for 734 yards, his fewest catches since 2014 when he missed two games and finished with only 63 receptions. The yards were a career-low while adjusting to an offense led by rookie Josh Rosen. Rosen would love to see Fitzgerald return and joked the “recruiting does not stop in college.”For his part, Fitzgerald and many of his teammates seemed more interested in supporting Wilks after a difficult first season that included several key injuries and the firing of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy after a 1-6 start.“His messages have been consistent. When you’re consistent personality-wise and coaching-wise, it makes it easy for guys to follow. The message never changed when we won, never changed when we lost,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s consistency.It’s hard to see that. You don’t see that much in this league. From people talking outside the building to players inside the building. You don’t see that kind of consistency, so that’s rare.”Wilks said he hasn’t been provided any clarity about his job status.“You have to win in this league. We kind of felt that we needed to put out a good show out there today,” Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson said. “Not only for his sake, but for us.”