A 7th-round rookie who carves out enough of a niche to be trusted with 13 touches per game in the playoffs deserves our attention. Ben Johnson has this offense trending in a great direction, and he clearly thought that the former Scarlet Knight has something to offer.
Should You Draft Kyle Monangai in Fantasy Football?
Within PFN’s Free Fantasy Mock Draft Simulator, Monangai is currently going off the board with an ADP of 100.2. That’s a mid- to late-round pick, depending on how many people are in your league and how deep your rosters go. Monangai is being selected in that range as a borderline RB3, depending on how your draft plays out. PFN’s fantasy draft experts Kyle Soppe and Jason Katz currently have Monangai ranked as the 112th overall player in their fantasy football rankings this year. That comes out to RB37 overall, with a projected 9.88 PPR points per game.
With Monangai in the mix, you’re not necessarily going to have elite PPR upside from a reception standpoint. You have D’Andre Swift, who’s the superior receiving back, and as long as Swift is there, Monangai is going to have a capped ceiling. There’s going to be a little bit of unpredictability in what his production is going to be.
There were some games where both Swift and Monangai were healthy and Monangai put together tremendous games. Then there were other games where both of them were healthy, like that Week 18 game where Monangai ran the ball 6 times for 14 yards and only had 1 catch for 15 yards. That’s not the most productive. There’s definitely going to be some variance there.
But if Swift goes down, Monangai has proven that he’s one of the most valuable handcuff running backs in all of fantasy football. Look at what he did in the one game that Swift missed last year, which was that super high-scoring game the Bears had against the Bengals. Monangai had 176 rushing yards and 3 catches for 22 yards. That’s super efficient.
The Bears love to run the ball. In Ben Johnson’s offense, that outside zone has been a reliable aspect of his system. Whether it’s Swift or Monangai, they’re going to get their touches in the run game no matter what. Ben Johnson’s going to make sure he can establish the run.
Monangai, I think, is absolutely worth taking a shot on. I’m not trusting him to be a consistent flex option week over week, but if you’re taking him this late in that 100 range, you’re not really expecting him to be a flex. If you can take him as a backup running back in fantasy football, he’s absolutely worth taking a shot on. Monangai has shown that even when Swift is healthy, he can go off for big games. Case in point: the 130-yard rushing game with a touchdown that he had against the Eagles in late November of last season.
Monangai can still go off for you if you have running backs on bye. If you have running backs who are hurt and you really are scraping the bottom of the barrel, you can start Monangai, and he’s shown that he can break out. I think Monangai is going to have a steady enough role to be a reliable backup running back with legit high-end RB2 value if Swift ever gets hurt. At his current ADP, I am absolutely buying Monangai this season.
FANTASY RANKINGS: PFN’s FREE Fantasy PPR, Half-PPR, and Non-PPR Rankings
Kyle Monangai’s Week 1 Fantasy Outlook
Analysis provided by PFN Analyst Kyle Soppe.
Expectations are always low for rookies with limited draft capital spent on them, so when Monangai started getting real work last season in Ben Johnson’s scheme, managers took notice.Â
D’Andre Swift is the RB1, and I don’t think that’s a role he gives up. That said, if this offense ascends at the level we think is possible, it could support two RBs by the middle of the season when byes and injuries force you to widen your search for flex production.
Last season, 49 RBs carried the ball 100 times: Kyren Williams was the only one of them to pick up 5+ yards at a higher rate than Monangai. That sounds great, and it’s certainly encouraging, but that looks like more of a scheme stat than an explosion one as he ranked 36th of that group in percentage of yards that gained 10+ yards.
The contingent value is high, and that alone will keep him valued in all formats. I don’t have him ranked as a starter this week unless you really went light at the position in a deeper format, though I am open to the idea of him getting to that level with time.
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Where Monangai Ranks Among 2026 Running Backs
- Jacory Croskey-Merritt | WAS
- MarShawn Lloyd | GB
- Rico Dowdle | PIT
- Blake Corum | LAR
- Jordan Mason | MIN
- Kyle Monangai | CHI
- Rachaad White | WAS
- J.K. Dobbins | DEN
- RJ Harvey | DEN
- Chris Rodriguez Jr. | JAX
- Aaron Jones Sr. | MIN
See PFN's 2026 PPR Running Back Rankings for more.
