The Chicago Bears are looking to continue their quest toward securing the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC. To do that, they will need all of their players at full strength. Kyle Monangai is currently dealing with an injury that kept him out of Wednesday’s practice. Will fantasy football managers have the talented rookie RB available in Week 14?
Kyle Monangai Injury Update
The Bears released an estimated practice report since they did not hold a full practice following the short week. Monangai was listed as DNP on Wednesday with an ankle injury.
The rookie running back is coming off his best performance of the season in Week 13 against Philadelphia. Monangai rushed 22 times for 130 yards and a touchdown in the 24-15 victory over the Eagles. D’Andre Swift also eclipsed 100 rushing yards in the same game, finishing with 18 carries for 125 yards and a touchdown.​
Both backs ran for over 100 yards, marking the first time the Bears had two rushers exceed that threshold in the same game since Matt Suhey and Walter Payton accomplished the feat on November 10, 1985.
Monangai has worked his way into a near even timeshare with Swift. The seventh-round rookie has become a huge part of the Bears rushing attack, which ranks second in the NFL at 153.8 yards per game. Monangai has recorded 121 carries for 591 yards and five touchdowns through 12 games this season.​
Missing practice matters a little more for Monangai as he is a rookie. However, the Bears are notoriously cautious with practice. Players often are limited or held out on Wednesdays regardless of injury status.​
This is not yet cause for concern regarding his Week 14 availability. Monangai was listed with an ankle injury ahead of the Week 10 matchup against the Giants but ultimately played in that contest. Fantasy managers should expect Monangai return to limited practice on Thursday, which would put him on track to play Sunday.​
Monangai’s Fantasy Outlook
The Bears have the high-pedigree quarterback and a big name playcaller, but this is a traditional offense that blocks the run at a high level.
Ben Johnson shipped D’Andre Swift off of Detroit when he was there, so I think we can say with a level of certainty that he doesn’t view him as a game changer. We don’t know that Monangai is, but we don’t have any evidence that Johnson believes that not to be true of him and that’s enough.
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The rookie has run for a score in four straight and it’s not an accident as he leads Swift 13-5 in red zone snaps over the past two weeks. He impressed at the beginning of November with a monster showing sans Swift (29 touches for 198 yards against the Bengals) and is now thriving alongside him.
Is it only a matter of time until he takes the keys to this backfield?
It certainly seems that way.
I’m not projecting that to be the case this weekend, it’s a little tough to relegate the starter after a 18-125-1 performance against one of the five best defenses in the sport, but Monangai’s role certainly seems more likely to expand than retract.
Give me the scoring equity of the rookie when stacking up the backs in Chicago this week. It’s a tough matchup and if Green Bay can establish their own run game, this is at risk of being a low possession game that leaves us all wanting more, but I’m OK with starting both parts of this backfield due to the focus of this offense.
— PFSN Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe
