The Chicago Bears invested a lot into their offense during the 2025 NFL Draft. They started by selecting Michigan tight end Colston Loveland with the 10th overall pick and added another weapon when they selected Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III in the second round.
But as the picks went by, the Bears didn’t select a running back like many had predicted until they were on the clock with their final pick of the draft.
Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai doesn’t scream playmaker after testing poorly at the NFL Scouting Combine, but he’s the reliable runner that Ben Johnson has wanted to anchor the Bears backfield. His arrival sends a shockwave through the Bears backfield and there may be one back in particular who may not be getting much sleep as the draft comes to a close.
Bears Sent Roschon Johnson a Message by Selecting Kyle Monangai in NFL Draft
Chicago’s running game had been placed into focus when Ben Johnson was hired as head coach last January. Johnson came over from the Detroit Lions and their running game produced the league’s fourth-ranked rushing attack with 4,799 rushing yards.
More impressively, the three teams ahead of the Lions all had running quarterbacks as Lamar Jackson led the Baltimore Ravens (5,850 yards), Jalen Hurts led the Philadelphia Eagles (5,238) and Kyler Murray led the Arizona Cardinals (4,816).
With the statuesque Jared Goff in the pocket, the Lions were the premier smashmouth offense in the NFL. But it didn’t feel like Johnson had the combination he had in Detroit with D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson.
Swift had a disappointing first season in Chicago, running for 959 yards and six touchdowns. Yet, his contract didn’t give the Bears a realistic chance to move on with $10 million in dead money if they decided to release him by June 1.
Johnson doesn’t have the same such restrictions, however, and he may have been put on notice with the selection of Monangai. The 22-year-old wasn’t the most explosive runner, posting a 4.60 time in the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine, but he established himself as a workhorse for the Scarlet Knights, racking up 498 carries over the past two seasons. Monangai was productive with those carries as well, running for 2,541 yards and 21 touchdowns in Greg Schiano’s offense.
Expectations could be tempered with Monganai’s 4.39 relative athletic score. But it’s not far off from Montgomery, who recorded a 5.23 RAS coming out of Iowa State when the Bears selected him in the third round of the 2019 draft.
Montgomery had a similar collegiate career with the Cyclones, carrying the ball 515 times for 2,362 yards and 24 touchdowns in his final two seasons in Ames; he has reprised that role in the NFL with 200 or more carries in each of his first five seasons before notching 185 carries last season.
This shouldn’t scare Swift, who can be the explosive complement to anyone in the backfield. But it should scare Johnson, who had just 150 yards and six touchdowns on 55 carries last season.
Roschon Johnson was never going to have a workhorse role, but there was at least some hope seeing what Ben Johnson did with Montgomery and it appears to be circling the drain as the Bears add another running back.
With Travis Horner able to contribute on special teams, Roschon Johnson’s redemption tour is over before it started and not even a cool pillow and a nice breeze can help him get some sleep as the team opens its offseason program.