REALITY CHECK FOR BEARS FANS: Can Kyle Monangai Break the 7th-Round Curse?

The Bears speak with great hope about seventh-round running back Kyle Monangai from Rutgers.

His college production looked solid but they might be better off putting their faith in Roschon Johnson or picking up a veteran free agent back just to be safe.

"We like his contact balance," Bears GM Ryan Poles said of Monangai. "Again, just the physical nature of how he plays football, and his pass protection is really good, as well."

This isn't a slam on Monangai's ability to run or catch passes or even pass block, but seventh-round running backs rarely accomplish much in the modern NFL.

The Bears, themselves, have drafted only two other running backs besides Monangai in the seventh round since the draft format shortened to seven rounds in 1993.

In 1996, Michael Hicks came to them in Round 7 and gained 106 yards on 31 carries with a catch for minus-1 yards during his Bears career. The other was Kerrith Whyte Jr. in 2019 and they cut him after preseason, stashed him on the prctice squad and lost him when Pittsburgh signed him away. Whyte had 24 Steelers carries and his career came to an end.

The example everyone is pointing to with Monangai's selection is Kansas City's Isiah Pacheco, who also played at Rutgers, has a somewhat similar style and was also deemed a tough, all-around player.

Pacheco is the current hot back from Round 7. He was drafted in 2022 and has 2,075 yards on 458 carries with 13 touchdowns, and made 69 catches for 453 yards with two TDs. 

Pacheco's rushing total is already second best among seventh-round backs drafted in the last 10 years.

It's not just the Bears who rarely have gotten anything from seventh-round backs.

There were no backs even drafted in the seventh round in 2024. There have been 30 backs drafted in the seventh round in the last decade and only 18 of them ever carried a football in the NFL.

Only six of those 30 backs taken across the entire league in the seventh round during the last decade ever carried it 100 times or more in their entire career and only seven gained more than 300 yards in their career.

Chris Carson of Seattle, a 2017 draft pick, is the leader in the past decade among seventh-round running backs and he had a solid 3,502 yards on 769 carries with 24 TDs, while also making 107 catches for 804 yards and seven TDs. His career spanned 2017-21.

The only other backs drafted in the last decade in the seventh round who ran for 1,000 total yards in the NFL for their careers were Myles Gaskin with Miami (364 carries, 1,354 yards, 7 TDs; 102 catches, 712 yards, 6 TDs) and Justin Jackson with the Chargers (248 carries, 1,210 yards, 5 TDs; 77 catches, 609 yards, 1 TD).

Monangai definitely has a lot working on his side with all-around skills, and he came from what was generally described as a deep class of running backs.

However, the history of the position is strong evidence Poles needs to keep the free agency route in mind. 

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Career statistics

(2015-2024 drafts)