The Chicago Bears ushered in a few changes on offense this offseason. Their decision to part ways with running back Jordan Howard was a particularly interesting move considering the state of their backfield.

The Bears managed to somewhat address the void left by Howard by taking running back David Montgomery in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Regardless,Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report has pegged it as a risky move on Chicago's end:

The Bears knew what they had in Howard. They had a back who rushed for 935 yards last season and 3,370 yards in his first three seasons. Howard also caught 72 passes in three years, so he did bring some versatility to the backfield.

What Chicago has in Montgomery is completely unknown—at least as it relates to the pro game.

The Bears had initially taken Howard in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He quickly proved to be quite a steal for Chicago after establishing himself as one of the most promising, young running backs in the league. He posted back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns in his first two seasons and was named a Pro Bowler as a rookie.

Unfortunately, Howard saw his role as the clear-cut workhorse start to dwindle with the emergence of running back Tarik Cohen. The pint-sized playmaker became a favorite weapon of head coach Matt Nagy thanks to his explosive skill set. It is safe to assume his development is part of the reason the Bears felt so comfortable parting ways with Howard in exchange for a sixth-round pick.

Despite Cohen's ability as a playmaker, his size does not make him much of a threat in between the tackles. Nor does it suggest that he is capable of handling the type of workload Howard did.

His absence will be heavily felt if Montgomery is unable to fill this role moving forward.