Kyle Monangai — 2026 Fantasy Outlook

Over his final two seasons at Rutgers, Monangai was the focal point of their ground game, carrying 242 times for 1,262 yards and eight touchdowns before following that up with 256 carries, 1,279 yards, and 13 scores. The passing game was almost never part of his role across 52 career games. He caught just 38 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown. Monangai surpassed 100 rushing yards in 12 games in 2024, with his best performance coming in his second outing of 2024 (27 carries, 208 yards, and three touchdowns).

Monangai won't wow anyone with his straight-line speed. His 4.60 40-yard dash at the 2025 NFL Combine was below the standard for the position, but he makes up for it in confined spaces with sharp quickness and a natural feel for eluding tacklers. His bigger concern at this stage is his patience and instincts at the point of attack; he often commits to running lanes early, only to run into traffic that a beat of hesitation might have avoided. Monangai plays with toughness and a desire to finish runs through contact, though pass protection and receiving out of the backfield are still areas where he needs meaningful development.

Over the first four games in his rookie season, Chicago had him on the field for 29.1% of their plays, leading to 85 combined yards with three catches on 20 touches. Monangai flashed in Week 7 (94 combined yards with a touchdown and two catches). After lighting the Bengals’ defense in Week 9 (26/1776 with three catches for 22 yards), he scored a touchdown in four consecutive games. Running room was an issue over his final seven games (69/255/0 – 3.7 yards per carry), but Monangai made bigger plays in the passing game (13/125/0 on 20 targets – 9.6 yards per catch).