Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson has a sharp eye for running backs. He pushed the Detroit Lions to draft Jahmyr Gibbs and sign David Montgomery in 2023. Then last year, he signed off on drafting Kyle Monangai in the 7th round. That proved a highly fruitful decision. Considering the Bears’ offense is geared around running the football, it shouldn’t be surprising that they are intent on adding more to the position. They already had a top 30 visit with Kentucky standout Seth McGowan. Now it’s been revealed they have eyes for another.
Draft insider Tony Pauline of Essentially Sports reported that the team is showing significant interest in Oregon’s Noah Whittington.
Running back Noah Whittington sat on the sidelines, as he has not fully recovered from the turf toe surgery he underwent several weeks ago. Although physically capable, Whittington skipped pro day drills to avoid any setbacks before camp as he is still not 100% recovered from turf toe surgery.
Whittington is getting a lot of interest from the Washington Commanders, Kansas City Chiefs, and Chicago Bears.
Whittington is a fascinating study. He’s spent six seasons in college football, two with Western Kentucky and the rest with Oregon. In that time, he was always productive, but never established himself as a starter. Not once did he ever eclipse 140 carries in a season. Still, he averaged a healthy 5.7 yards per carry in his college career and demonstrated some versatility as a pass catcher. Yet when you watch him play, it’s easy to see why the Bears are interested.
Whittington is built like another Kyle Monangai.
A big reason the Bears’ running back fell to the 7th round was that he was short and an average athlete. Speed was never his game. However, he was still highly productive because he had good vision, contact balance, and a hard-nosed running style. That always translates to the NFL. Whittington is built the same way. He doesn’t have the speed to bounce outside or the ability to create outside of the play design. Still, he is tough to bring down, grinds out extra yards regularly, and is willing to do anything asked of him.
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That’s Kyle Monangai in a nutshell. Current projections have Whittington going undrafted. He turns 25 this year and is recovering from turf toe. Teams won’t want to spend draft capital on that. The Bears likely feel he could be a good fit for their offense on the cheap. If going the Monangai type worked once, it couldn’t hurt to try it again. Finding good running backs is far easier in undrafted free agency than other positions. This will be a name to watch if they don’t draft somebody next month.
