Chicago Bears' Day-3 pick labeled overlooked rookie likely to generate buzz

The Chicago Bears could get better-than-expected returns from one of their late-round 2025 NFL Draft picks.

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The Chicago Bears' 2025 NFL Draft class has a chance to be pretty special. And that's not hyperbole.

Chicago added tight end Colston Loveland with the 10th overall pick, a player who will generate mismatches and has a Brock Bowers-type outlook under coach Ben Johnson.

In the second round, wide receiver Luther Burden III was added to a receiver room that already features DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. It's a trio of pass catchers who have a chance to be a legitimately elite group of targets for second-year quarterback Caleb Williams.

The second round included two more picks for the Bears: offensive tackle Ozzy Traplio and defensive lineman Shemar Turner. Trapilo has a chance to win the team's starting left tackle job, while Turner should hold a key rotational role along the interior defensive line, along with Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter, and Andrew Billings.

But there's one rookie from the Bears' 2025 draft class who could emerge as the most surprising contributor this year: running back Kyle Monangai.

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Monangai was selected in the seventh round after enjoying a fantastic collegiate career at Rutgers. He finished the 2024 season with 1,279 rushing yards; in 2023, he ran for 1,262. He averaged 5.1 yards per carry over those final two seasons.

Despite Monangai falling to the final round of the 2025 NFL Draft, he's generated buzz and excitement about his potential role this fall. The Bears' depth chart at running back features D'Andre Swift at the top, and third-year pro Roschon Johnson as the likely top backup with power-back duties.

Swift struggled during his first season with the Bears in 2024, failing to reach 1,000 rushing yards and falling below 4.0 yards per carry for the first time in his career. His subpar season sparked questions about whether Chicago would invest a high draft pick (including potentially the No. 10 overall) on a running back to replace him.

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Meanwhile, it feels like we're still waiting for Roschon Johnson's career to get off the ground. A former fourth-round pick, Johnson faced several roadblocks to carries, including injuries and a bizarre mishandling of his touches in 2024 by former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

With a fresh start and an offensive system that requires a power back who can serve in a role like David Montgomery plays for the Detroit Lions, Johnson now has a viable opportunity to emerge as a relevant building block for the Bears.

But it's Monangai whose name continues to bubble to the surface as a prospect who can do it all for Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears.

In fact, Kyle Monangai was recently listed among six overlooked rookies who are likely to generate major training camp buzz.

"Monangai's scheme versatility provides Johnson with a ball-carrier who can run both gap and zone concepts," Bleacher Report's Damian Parsons wrote. "He dialed up both concepts with Gibbs and David Montgomery with the Lions. Monangai's low-pad level and contact balance makes him an effective downhill runner."

Perhaps Monangai can first carve out a role as that power back; perhaps Roschon Johnson needs to look over his shoulder.

If Monangai begins getting a regular workload, Swift, too, would have to look over his shoulder.

It isn't often that a seventh-round pick earns this much summertime hype. There's a chance this is the result of the Bears' troubling running back room. Maybe it really is honest excitement for what Mongangai is capable of bringing to a pro running game. Regardless of what the 'why' is, Mongangai's NFL Draft fall has resulted in him landing in a perfect situation with a golden opportunity to become a real factor as a rookie in 2025.

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