Bears' Kyle Monangai Earns All-Seventh-Round Team Honors from PFF With One Caveat

The Chicago Bears' 2025 NFL draft class was arguably the very best in the league that year, with general manager Ryan Poles finding playmakers everywhere from Round 1 to Round 7. Running back Kyle Monangai from Rutgers was the Bears' seventh-round selection that year, and his rookie campaign was impressive enough that Pro Football Focus (PFF) named him the starting running back for their 'All-Seventh-Round' team in 2026.

Kyle Monangai is a weapon with plenty of growth still ahead of him

Daire Carragher, an NFL writer for PFF, made the selections for this 'All-Seventh-Round' team, and he very nearly selected Washington Commanders' rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt. "The Commanders running back graded 0.3 points higher on rushing plays while forcing more missed tackles and gaining marginally more yards per carry," Carragher writes. "However, Monangai edges this thanks to his production in the passing game."

But it's not all good news for Monangai, despite his flashes of greatness. Carragher notes that Monangai has plenty of growth ahead of him, writing, "He had four concentration drops as a rookie and endured a disappointing end to his campaign with just 77 yards on 27 carries over his last three outings."

That's the uncomfortable truth. Monangai may have dominated in the second half of the regular season, but his final three games were a disaster, especially the playoffs. In the Bears' heartbreaking Divisional round loss to the Rams, Monangai picked up just 36 yards on 13 carries, and 15 of those yards came on one attempt. Take away that one good run, and he averaged less than two yards per carry the rest of the game.

What role will Kyle Monangai play in 2026?

Luckily for Monangai, those issues from 2025 can be easily improved. He can reduce or eliminate those concentration drops by spending more time with a JUGS machine, and now he has playoff experience under his belt. Next time the Bears play a win-or-go-home game, the lights may not prove to be too bright for him.

And speaking of brightness, his future with the Bears is still in good standing. The 2026 season is the final year in D'Andre Swift's contract with the team, and he's unlikely to be extended after that. Monangai's breakout season makes him look like an ideal replacement for Swift in 2027 and beyond, but he'll first have to prove that he can handle an increased workload.

Following a rookie year in which Monangai didn't really get an extended look from the coaches until Week 7, I would imagine that head coach Ben Johnson would like to test him early and often. Swift will still be the RB1, but it would make sense to see what Monangai is capable of with more touches as soon as possible. This way, he could help Ryan Poles know whether or not he needs to be on the lookout for a starting-caliber running back in 2027.

The Bottom Line

Kyle Monangai excelling as a seventh-round rookie was a fun story in 2025, but that's in the past now. No longer the spunky underdog, he enters 2026 with the expectations of a veteran NFL running back. This honor from PFF is well-deserved, and I hope Monangai uses it as fuel to keep the passion burning, but as Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams have said, nothing about last year transfers to this year.

Just like the rest of the team, Monangai is starting 2026 at square-one, and he'll have to prove that he's got plenty of untapped potential yet to come.

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