Bear Digest

This Chicago Bears rookie is looking like the steal of the 2025 NFL Draft

One Chicago Bears rookie has quickly exceeded expectations and could end up being the biggest steal of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Bryan Perez|
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The best rosters in the NFL are usually built through the NFL Draft. And most of the time, those great rosters are built through finding talented starters after the first few rounds.

The Chicago Bears are on their way toward building one of the league's top rosters, and the 2025 NFL Draft is a big reason why.

Sure, the headliners are the early-round picks: Tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden III. But it's seventh-round running back Kyle Monangai who is quickly emerging as not only one of the best picks of Ryan Poles' draft class, but also one of the biggest steals of the entire 2025 NFL Draft.

Remember: Bears fans were clamoring for Poles to find a way to position the Bears to select Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty in the first round. But after eight games, it's Monangai who's proving to be the more effective NFL runner.

Monangai enters Week 10 as the fifth-leading rusher among rookies despite only totaling 22 carries through the first five games of the season.

The former Rutgers star has seen an increase in workload since Week 7, including Week 9's win over the Bengals when he had a career-high 26 carries for 176 yards.

Monangai leads all rookie runners in yards per carry, too.

"That's kind of who he's been since he's been here — very reliable, he's gonna do what you're coaching," Johnson said of Monangai after Week 9. "I think he's hard to bring down, and I think that showed up. What he was in Rutgers was the bell cow for that team, and he proved today that he can carry that load if called upon."

Not bad for a seventh-round pick. It's also not great for the old-school NFL draft scouts who believe running backs should be drafted in the first round.

Kyle Monangai isn't satisfied despite the sudden fanfare he's receiving. He knows one game -- or a stretch of a few games -- doesn't make a career.

“I have high expectations for myself,” he said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself. I expect the results I get, but it doesn’t mean I’m satisfied or anything like that. This is more of just letting myself know I’m on the right track.”

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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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