2025 NFL Draft: How RB Kyle Monangai impacts the Chicago Bears' depth chart

The Chicago Bears selected a running back in the 2025 NFL draft, as expected, but far later than most fans would have thought. Will a 7th-round rookie be able to make the final roster?

Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After weeks of being linked to running back phenoms such as Boise State's Ashton Jeanty or North Carolina's Omarion Hampton, the Chicago Bears did not select a running back until Round 7: Rutgers' Kyle Monangai.

This was actually something of a value pick for the Bears, as some draft analysts had him going a few rounds earlier. Still, the Bears already have the highly-paid D'Andre Swift and former fourth-round pick Roschon Johnson on the roster, which complicates Monangai's path forward.

Will he make the Chicago Bears' active roster?

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Kyle Monangai brings the boom, but little else

What Monangai is good at is picking up those tough, 'gotta have it' yards. He's got a compact, muscular frame and moves like a giant bowling ball. Unfortunately, nothing else about his game stands out as particularly good. He lacks top-end speed, so he won't be a home run hitter, and that severely limits his ceiling in the NFL.

I could see a future for Monangai where he puts together a terrific training camp performance and supplants Roschon Johnson as Chicago's power running back: the early down or goal-to-go option in the backfield, but even that feels like a stretch until we actually see him in action with pads on.

Even landing the RB3 spot may be a struggle. Ian Wheeler, a preseason fan favorite from last year, is returning, and he looked like he had real potential before his injury in the preseason finale. You can bet he's coming back with a vengeance and will be gunning hard to make the roster after being robbed of his opportunity once already.

Dale Young-Imagn Images

Monangai could very well end up looking like one of the 2025 NFL draft's late-round gems, but until we actually see evidence of that, we have to be more realistic in our expectations.

More Chicago Bears News:

• Grading the Chicago Bears' pick of TE Colston Loveland in first round of 2025 NFL Draft

• 2025 NFL Draft: 4 reasons why the Bears selected Colston Loveland in the first round

• Meet new Chicago Bears tight end, Colston Loveland—four fun facts

• Chicago Bears get slammed by Clay Matthews as 2025 NFL Draft begins