Over the past few seasons, new Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson has had one of the best rushing attacks in the league with the Detroit Lions. Therefore, many fans thought Johnson might make changes to the Bears' running back room this past offseason. At his previous stop, Johnson had already decided to move away from Chicago's lead back D'Andre Swift.
Many fans thought that could happen again, and that Chicago would take a running back early in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, that's not how things turned out. Instead, the Bears waited until the seventh round to select Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai.
That said, heading into training camp, Monangai has a huge chance to impact Chicago's running back rotation with a strong showing,
Bears Rookie RB Kyle Monangai Could Make Waves at Training Camp
Typically, seventh-round running backs don't have much of an impact as rookies, unless your name is Isiah Pacheco. Even so, Chicago's running back depth chart is seemingly open after Swift. Right now, former fourth-round pick Roschon Johnson occupies the RB2 spot.
Despite that, Johnson hasn't done much to show he is the unquestioned No.2 running back. In two seasons, he has 136 carries for 502 yards and eight touchdowns. Although the 24-year-old scored six touchdowns in 2024, he only rushed for 150 yards and 55 carries.
Johnson's inefficiency on the ground wasn't all on him, as the coaches didn't utilize him correctly. Still, Monangai has a chance to win the RB2 spot during training camp.
In his final two seasons at Rutgers, he rushed for 2,541 yards on 498 carries and scored 21 touchdowns. Although Monangai lacks breakaway speed, he averaged over five yards per carry in each of those two seasons. Achieving this against the Big Ten competition on a team that isn't one of the best year over year is impressive.
With that in mind, Monangai's main role for the Bears will likely be an in-between-the-tackles power running back. While Johnson is the same style of runner, Monangai has a more proven track record of being successful. Sure, the NFL is tougher, but that doesn't mean Monangai should be discounted.
Bears fans shouldn't be surprised if the 23-year-old has some impressive runs and overtakes Johnson on the depth chart during training camp.