The Chicago Bears had the #3 rushing attack in the NFL last season. Much of that was thanks to the steady dependability of D’Andre Swift, who produced the best year of his career with 1,089 yards. However, none of it happens with the presence of Kyle Monangai. Chicago took a flier on the Rutgers product in the 7th round of the 2025 draft. While he’d been highly productive in college, most felt he lacked the athleticism or speed to replicate that success in the NFL. Apparently, nobody told him that.
Monangai emerged to put up 783 yards on the ground, averaging 4.6 per carry. His ability to bang the ball between the tackles and stay on his feet covered an essential area that Swift wasn’t known for. The duo became a perfect instrument for Ben Johnson’s offense. It is why the team didn’t make any notable changes to the backfield this offseason. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. However, Sports Mockery’s own Jeff Hughes believes there could be one significant change.
He believes Monangai will emerge as the primary starter by the end of 2026.
The Bears already know that feeding Kyle Monangai works.
Unsurprisingly, the team didn’t utilize the rookie much through the first month of the season. They didn’t want to rush things and risk stunting his development. Once it became clear he was ready for more opportunities, they gave it to him. Between weeks 6 and 14, Monangai had 11 or more carries in a game seven times. Where it gets interesting is what happened when they truly fed him the ball. There were two contests where the rookie got 20 or more carries. A full workload. The results were hard to dispute.
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- vs. Cincinnati: 26 carries for 176 yards
- vs. Philadelphia: 22 carries for 130 yards and 1 TD
Monangai has always come across as one of those running backs who gets better as the game goes on. His ability to run with physicality and contact balance will wear an opponent down. By the 4th quarter, they’re gassed and hurting. They can’t take the punishment anymore. That is when the breakdowns happen. Monangai did it for two years at Rutgers in the Big Ten with huge success. Is it so crazy to think that Coach Johnson would like the idea of him being the volume back?
Much of this depends on Swift.
He just turned 27 years old. That isn’t over the hill for a running back. He also hasn’t been getting the level of carries as other top backs in the league, like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, or Jonathan Taylor. Normally, you’d think the guy has enough gas in the tank to once again be the primary back on offense. However, it’s important to remember something. Swift isn’t the biggest guy. He is only 5’8″ and 204 lbs. He’s never really been built to handle a workload of 20+ carries every week.
Kyle Monangai, while the same size, is much younger with less wear and tear. Perhaps the wise decision would be to give him the heavier load and keep Swift fresh for later in games when his speed can be lethal. It would be similar to how Ben Johnson deployed David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs in 2023. Wear the opponent down with the heavy hitter, and then deliver the killshot with the spark plug. It is something the team appears to at least be thinking about as camp approaches.
