Fellow rookies' high praise for seventh-round RB Kyle Monangai show the Bears might have landed a steal in the 2025 Draft
The Chicago Bears decision not to draft one of the top running backs in the 2025 NFL Draft was heavily criticized, whether it was by design or not.However, the Bears still walked out of the draft with an addition to the backfield in seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai, a player who fits the system and was […]
The Chicago Bears decision not to draft one of the top running backs in the 2025 NFL Draft was heavily criticized, whether it was by design or not.
However, the Bears still walked out of the draft with an addition to the backfield in seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai, a player who fits the system and was available at an insane value given his college production.
Monangai was the 22nd running back selected in the draft with the 233rd overall pick. The Bears were stoked to land him where they did and he's someone that running backs coach Eric Bieniemy had in the back pocket after watching him cook the UCLA defense while serving as the Bruins' head coach.
Even if it wasn't the desired addition to the backfield, Monangai offers the same skillset the team was searching for. He's a physically strong back that excels in pass protection and can pick up the hard yards.
After seeing Monangai in action during rookie minicamp this weekend and hearing from some of the other rookies, it's clear the Bears found something in this guy.
"I tell everybody that he's the best running back I faced in my career in the Big Ten," linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II said on the CHGO Bears Podcast. "He has a great ability to run behind his pads, he's fast and slippery. He knows how to get through the holes and he knows how to finish runs, he's physical. When you look at him you don't really expect physicality with his size, when he runs the football you definitely feel it when you tackle him. I played him for about three, four years, so I had to see him every year, it was always a good battle."
Monangai played 52 games for Rutgers totaling 3,222 yards and 27 touchdowns throughout his career, including 14 games with 100+ rushing yards.
The guy was simply a menace in the Big Ten and one of the more underrated players in the entire conference. And now his new teammates are excited to have him on their sideline this time around.
"Right as we were decleating and taking off our tape, I went up to Kyle because I hasn't had the chance to connect with him yet, and I said 'Kyle, you terrorized us last time I saw you,'" offensive lineman Luke Newman explained. "Getting a closer up look at Kyle and how he operates, how he is as a player… from what I've gotten so far from him is that he's a tremendous athlete, tremendous player, a great person as well."
Monangai won't be asked to be an every down back with the Bears playing behind D'Andre Swift and competing with Roschon Johnson for opportunities. But, when his number is called, he's going to show why he was a steal in the draft.
Now that he's in Chicago, Monangai also gets the benefit of being coached by one of the best running back coaches in the game. In fact, after the Bears hired Bieniemy, Ben Johnson noted multiple people around the league praised the hire.
"He's going to coach the piss out of these running backs ,” Johnson said during the League Meetings. “That's what he does. Everybody that texted me after we hired him, I had probably half a dozen people that have worked with him in the past and they said, you just hired the best running backs coach in the NFL."
This weekend, Monangai got the first real taste of playing for highly-respected assistant coach, and Bieniemy wasn't holding back on him, or any of the running backs, working on the field.
"He’s a legend, No. 1, to begin with, just knowing his history, the people he’s coached, the teams he’s been a part of," Monangai said about Bieniemy. "He’s really insightful, a great coach, gets me ready for practice every day. I’m excited for the future of what he’s going to be able to teach me, and being able to work with him."
The future is already looking bright for the rookie running back who will be looking to prove the Bears right, and everyone else wrong, for taking a chance on him.
