Bear Digest

Bears fans expecting breakout game from Kyle Monangai against Bengals

Chicago Bears fans are buzzing with confidence that rookie running back Kyle Monangai will deliver a breakout performance in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Bryan Perez|
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Chicago Bears rookie running back Kyle Monangai has a chance to make a big statement in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals. And the chance he's getting -- to start an NFL game -- doesn't happen often for first-year players who enter the league as a seventh-round pick.

But where Monangai was drafted means nothing now. Instead, the fact that he's built enough trust with the coaching staff to start by the midway point of his rookie season speaks volumes.

Indeed, Monangai is getting his crack at the statting job because veteran D'Andre Swift is down with a groin injury. Coach Ben Johnson said this week that Swift has been dealing with the groin injury for several weeks, and that rest is needed to get him back to full health.

For Monangai, it means leading the Bears' backfield againt the Bengals, who enter Week 9 with the NFL's worst run defense.

Cincinnati ranks 32nd in rushing yards allowed per game (151.9). When combined with Johnson's affinity for the running game, there may not be a ceiling on how many yards Kyle Monangai rushes for.

Indeed, there is a ceiling on his rushing total. But, what is it?

I decided to pose that question to Chicago Bears fans this week, and the confidence in Monangai is very high, to say the least.

Over 68% of Bears fans who voted predicted that he would run for at least 75 yards. Of that 68%, 31% believe he will run for over 100 yards.

That's quite the proclamation for a dude who almost went undrafted in April and has only 42 carries for 186 yards and one touchdown coming into Week 9.

Kyle Monangai was a star at Rutgers, where he ended his college career running for 1,279 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024.

There's a chance Kyle Monangai's time as the Bears' RB1 could extend beyond Week 9, too.

“It’s really been a chronic thing for a while now,” Johnson said of Swift’s injury this week. “I think it probably goes earlier than (Week 6) that he’s been feeling something. We’re just doing our due diligence to make sure that we’re getting the best version of Swift to help this team, for him and his individual success. We just want to make sure that we have him at a good spot for the whole season.”

A big performance by Monangai against the Bengals could make the Bears feel good about giving Swift another week to recover. And if Monangai stacks back-to-back big games as Chicago's RB1? He might not give the job back.

"My mission in a way is to tire the defense out, to try to get them to not want to tackle me anymore, the way I'm attacking them downhill," Monangai said. "It allows me to feel the game better. Eventually, once I get a feel for what they're doing that day and who I can attack more and what I can do, I feel like I get better as it gets going."

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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