Windy City Gridiron
Throughout the 2025 NFL season, SB Nation’s Doug Farrar writes about the game’s Secret Superstars — those players whose performances might slip under the radar for whatever reasons. In this installment, we focus on Chicago Bears rookie running back Kyle Monangai, the seventh-round surprise who has been a bellcow back at times, and always a force multiplier in Ben Johnson’s killer run game.
When people discuss Chicago Bears head coach and former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, it all usually starts with Johnson’s genius regarding receiver deployment and passing play design. Justifiably so, as Johnson is one of the best in football at both of those things. But if you hearken back to Johnson’s time with the Lions as the offensive shot-caller from 2022-2024 (Bears fans will have no trouble doing so), those Lions would throw any run concept at you, and likely eat your lunch when doing so.
Perhaps the most obvious and dominant Ben Johnson statement to date regarding the importance and efficiency of the right run game came in Chicago’s 24-15 Black Friday win over the Philadelphia Eagles. In that game, the Bears had 42 designed carries, and they gained 246 yards with 91 yards before contact and 177 yards after contact — both of which were season highs. The Bears had done something similar to the Cincinnati Bengals in a 47-42 Week 9 win, and in that game, it wasn’t the combination of veteran back D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai; it was Monangai who did it all, as Swift was out with a hip injury.
This time around, it was the duo that did it, and they did it at an historic level. Monangai and Swift became the first twosome of Bears running backs to each gain more than 100 yards in a game since Walter Payton and Matt Suhey did it on November 10, 1985. Monangai also scored a rushing touchdown in his fourth straight game, becoming the third Bears rookie to do so in the Super Bowl era, joining Payton in 1975 and Jeremy Langford in 2015.
Not bad for the Rutgers alum, who was selected with the 235th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2025 draft. At 5’9 and 205 pounds, Monangai was undervalued due to his size, and the fact that he wasn’t regarded as a breakaway speed guy. But there were some out there (ahem) who thought more of Monangai based on the college tape.
This season, Monangai has run the ball 121 times for 591 yards, five touchdowns, 19 forced missed tackles, 12 runs of 10 or more yards, six runs of 15 or more yards, and no fumbles — that last statistic takes him back to his college days, where Monangai never lost the ball in 670 carries for the Scarlet Knights.
From the start, Monangai’s NFL teammates were impressed. And if you think that the Bears don’t see him as a bell-cow runner, let his 22 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown last...
