Bears guard Luke Newman was taking off his cleats at the end of the Bears\u2019 rookie minicamp Sunday when he introduced himself to running back Kyle Monangai. \u201cKyle,\u201d he said, \u201cyou terrorized us.\u201d In the regular season finale Nov. 30, Monangai ran a whopping 31 times for 129 yards and one touchdown in a 41-14 Rutgers win against Newman\u2019s Michigan State team. \u201cThey know my name up there in East Lansing,\u201d Monangai said.<\/p>\n
They know his name in a lot of Big Ten cities. In 16 conference games the past two years, Monangai eclipsed 100 rushing yards eight times. He was first-team All-Big Ten last year and graduated as the second leading rusher in the history of Rutgers. He never fumbled in his five-year college career and has been a captain twice.<\/p>\n
He was available for the Bears to draft in Round 7, though, because, while his production is elite, his measurables are not. The production: Monangai averaged 105.9 rushing yards per game over the past two seasons at Rutgers. Only three other Power 6 conference running backs had more during that time. One was drafted in Round 1 last month, the other in Round 2 and the third in Round 6. Monangai waited until Pick 233 to hear his name. The reason: he ran a 4.6-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine last year, the third-slowest among the running backs class. He stands 5-foot-8 \u2014 no one shorter than him was drafted this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my football career path has kind of been one of, like, \u2018He\u2019s a good player. But there\u2019s something off,\u2019\u201d Monangai said Sunday. \u201cSomething that, \u2018I don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to put him at the pedestal he should be.\u2019 \u201cI was never always talked about in the top guys, usually, from Pop Warner to middle school, high school, college, and then now even. So it\u2019s not a new space, not a new environment for me. It\u2019s a role that I embrace, something that I take on. And I think it\u2019s, honestly, what\u2019s made me the player I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether Monangai\u2019s production can transfer to the NFL level without the perfect body type is one of the most compelling storylines of the Bears\u2019 offseason. More than most of the Bears\u2019 Day 3 picks, he\u2019ll have an opportunity to make an impact. Despite needing a running back to team with starter D\u2019Andre Swift and short-yardage back Roschon Johnson, the Bears didn\u2019t sign an established player in free agency or draft one higher than Round 7.<\/p>\n
General manager Ryan Poles could still add a veteran free agent \u2014 J.K. Dobbins is coming off a career-high 905 rushing yards with the Chargers and former Browns star Nick Chubb is working to regain his burst after a grisly knee injury. Monangai, though, will get first crack at sticking in the team\u2019s running back rotation. \u201cMy short exposure to D\u2019Andre Swift has been really positive,\u201d offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. \u201cHe has been really attentive. He\u2019s a pro. Obviously, you like what he does in the passing game \u2014 and he\u2019s gonna be a home-run hitter as a runner. Adding Kyle to that mix is going to be awesome, with the group that\u2019s in there with Roschon and those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doyle has noticed the way Monangai carries himself \u2014 he sits in the front of team meetings, taking notes and answering questions intended for the group. Poles likes Monangai\u2019s physicality, willingness to pass-block and the balance he maintains when he takes on tacklers. It will be hard to measure Monangai until the pads come on, but there\u2019s no doubting the opportunity in front of him. Something needs to change in the Bears\u2019 rushing attack. Swift averaged 3.8 yards per carry last year, a career low. Johnson averaged 2.7 last season after posting a respectable 4.3 the year before.<\/p>\n
The running back feels like he\u2019s been questioned his whole life. \u201cI don\u2019t concern myself with who went before me and all those things \u2014 the draft is over with \u2026\u201d he said. \u201c[It\u2019s] definitely something I\u2019ll take with me as some fuel, a chip on my shoulder. But that\u2019s kind of been my whole career and my path to getting here. The things that allowed me to excel in college, I\u2019ve got to figure that out at this level first and then use those things to my advantage. \u201cI expect to see the same results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Q: What were Kyle Monangai’s college stats?
\nA: Monangai averaged 105.9 rushing yards per game over the past two seasons at Rutgers and graduated as the second leading rusher in the history of Rutgers.
\nQ: Why was Monangai drafted in Round 7?
\nA: Monangai’s measurables, such as his 4.6-second 40-yard dash and 5-foot-8 height, were not considered elite.
\nQ: What is Monangai’s role with the! Bears?
\nA: Monangai will compete for a spot in the Bears’ running back rotation, alongside starter D’Andre Swift and short-yardage back Roschon Johnson.
\nQ: Who are some veteran free agents that the Bears could still sign?
\nA: The Bears could still sign veteran free agents such as J.K. Dobbins or Nick Chubb to add depth to their running back corps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to Kyle Monangai Bears guard Luke Newman was taking off his cleats at the end of the Bears\u2019 rookie minicamp Sunday when he introduced himself to running back Kyle Monangai. \u201cKyle,\u201d he said, \u201cyou terrorized us.\u201d In the regular season finale Nov. 30, Monangai ran a whopping 31 times for 129 yards and one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/539ed86\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3552x2028+0+0\/resize\/1461x834!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F75%2F9e%2F7e7027074155a09c976719627ee3%2Fbears-051125-29.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20360"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20362,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20360\/revisions\/20362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}