Chicago Bears fans couldn’t help but feel disappointed. For months, all they’d heard from draft experts was how special the 2025 running back class was. You had potential starters everywhere and even a few possible stars. Yet for six rounds, the Bears failed to take advantage. This wasn’t out of misguided arrogance, mind you. Ryan Poles admitted the original plan had been to grab somebody much earlier. Unfortunately, other teams always seemed to take guys they wanted right before they went on the clock. Rather than force the issue, Poles stuck to his board. Finally, the team took that running back in the 7th round, selecting Kyle Monangai out of Rutgers.
It was a poor consolation prize for fans who dreamed of Ashton Jeanty and TreVeyon Henderson. However, not everybody was unimpressed with the pick. Emory Hunt covers college football for CBS and is a prominent draft expert. He expressed tons of love for the Bears’ selection of Monangai. If things play out as he expects, Chicago may have found their version of Ahmad Bradshaw.
For those who don’t remember, the former 7th round pick out of Marshall became a two-time 1,000-yard rusher for the New York Giants and won two Super Bowls.
Kyle Monangai is your classic overachiever.
When teams look at him, all they see is a guy who is an average athlete with average size. However, history shows again and again that such things don’t matter as much at running back. If you have power, contact balance, and vision, there is a good chance you can be productive in the NFL. Kyle Monangai checks each of those boxes. He is difficult to bring down on the first tackle, has a great feel for where the openings will be, and was highly productive in a top college football conference for two years. He may not have the three-down capability of the top prospects in this draft, but he has everything required to be an instant contributor in the ground game moving forward.
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