Kyle Monangai Fantasy Overview

Production & Fantasy Finishes

Monangai posted a 169-783-5 rushing line and 18-164-0 receiving line across 17 games last year, finishing 45th among RBs in PPR points per game and 42nd in half-PPR.

Monangai had a huge Week 9 with D’Andre Swift out, racking up 198 total yards against a bad Bengals defense. He finished RB3 across scoring formats that week.

Outside of that spike week, Monangai ranked 50th among RBs in PPR points. He had just one other top-12 PPR finish and cracked the top 24 in only six of his other 16 games.

Usage & Role

Monangai worked behind Swift for most of 2025. In 16 games with Swift, Monangai:

• Played 38.9% of the offensive snaps
• Ran a route on 26.9% of pass plays
• Averaged 8.9 carries and 1.4 targets per game

Monangai ranked 47th among RBs in expected points per game with Swift.

We did see the gap between Swift and Monangai shrink a bit over their final 11 games together. Here’s how it shook out:

Monangai was RB35 in expected PPR points per game over those 11 outings.

Efficiency & Regression

Monangai’s 4.6 yards per carry ranked 15th among 51 RBs with 90+ carries last year. He was much less impressive in advanced metrics, though, finishing:

• 33rd in yards after contact per attempt
• 40th in missed tackles forced per attempt
• 30th in rush yards over expected per attempt
• 26th in Pro Football Focus rushing grade

Swift beat Monangai across the board:

Monangai was even worse in the passing game, ranking 43rd in yards per route and 46th in PFF receiving grade among 48 RBs with 25+ targets.

Offensive Context

The 2025 Bears finished sixth in total yards and ninth in points. It was a run-leaning offense, ranking:

• 24th in pass rate
• 21st in neutral pass rate
• 20th in pass rate over expected

The Bears also ranked sixth in offensive pace (seconds per play) and second in total plays. That propelled them to a fifth-place finish in total rushing attempts.

Monangai ran behind an excellent offensive line that ranked:

• third in PFF run-blocking grade
• fifth in ESPN run-block win rate
• third in adjusted line yards

Historical Production & Trends

The Bears took Monangai in Round 7 of the 2025 draft. He workhorse usage over his final two seasons at Rutgers, topping 1,200 rushing yards both years.

Monangai averaged just 4.8 yards per carry for his college career, though, and underwhelmed in advanced metrics such as yards after contact and missed tackles forced per attempt. He also totaled just 38 catches in college and ran a 4.60-second 40-yard dash at the Combine.

Injury History & Durability

Monangai played all 17 games last year and did not have any significant injuries at Rutgers.

Projected Role & Competition

The Bears are set to deploy the same committee backfield with Swift and Monangai this season after making no significant RB additions.

That makes Monangai a safe bet for at least the No. 2 job. But he’ll need to improve if he wants to steal more work from Swift.

Supporting Cast

The Bears return QB Caleb Williams and six of last year’s top eight target getters.

Chicago traded WR D.J. Moore, who finished second on the team with 85 targets a year ago, to Buffalo in March. WR Olamide Zaccheaus, fourth on the 2025 Bears in targets, left for Atlanta in free agency.

But the team still boasts a strong trio of pass catchers in WR Rome Odunze, WR Luther Burden, and TE Colston Loveland.

There are bigger questions on the offensive line.

LT Ozzy Trapilo went down with a ruptured patellar tendon in last year’s Wild Card win over the Packers. That has him unlikely to be ready for the start of this season and leaves Braxton Jones, Theo Benedet, and Jedrick Wills competing for the starting job this summer.

The Bears also lost C Drew Dalman to retirement this offseason. He’s expected to be replaced by Garrett Bradbury, who was acquired from New England via trade in March. Bradbury started all 17 games for the Patriots last year but ranked just 35th among 41 qualifying centers in Pro Football Focus’ 2025 run-blocking grades. Dalman, by comparison, finished seventh.

Chicago returns three 2025 starters in RT Darnell Wright, RG Jonah Jackson, and LG Joe Thuney. But this unit could take at least a slight step back this season.

Coaching & Offensive Scheme

HC Ben Johnson returns for Year 2 with the Bears. Chicago went from bottom-5 in points and yards in 2024 to top-9 in both categories under Johnson. That followed this three-year run in Detroit for Johnson:

Johnson has been a run-leaning play caller, with all four of his offenses finishing between 20th and 25th in neutral pass rate. Here’s where his offenses have ranked in rushing stats:

Not surprisingly, Johnson’s offense has been friendly to RB production. All three of his Lions teams ranked top-3 in total RB PPR points. Last year’s Bears finished 14th.

Paths to Ceiling

Monangai has a clear role for a Bears team that could be a top-5 offense and top-5 running game this season. High-end efficiency and a strong TD rate could make him a weekly RB3 for fantasy teams.

And, as we saw last year, a Swift absence would give Monangai RB1 upside.

Risk Factors

Monangai wasn’t particularly impressive last year in advanced rushing metrics and has a poor pass-catching resume dating back to college.

If he doesn’t improve this year, Swift could handle a bigger share of the backfield work and render Monangai just a fantasy bench stash.