{"id":10240,"date":"2025-04-29T17:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T17:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/10240\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T17:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T17:05:11","slug":"why-chicago-bears-didnt-capitalize-on-deep-rb-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/10240\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Chicago Bears didn’t capitalize on deep RB class"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you blinked, you might have missed the review of the Chicago Bears\u2019 addition to their backfield in last weekend\u2019s NFL draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pick was submitted shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, a Round 7 dice roll on Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai<\/a>. Less than two hours later, during a recap of all the Bears\u2019 draft activity at Halas Hall, general manager Ryan Poles offered this 43-word scouting thumbnail on the last member of his 2025 draft class.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysical, tough runner,\u201d Poles said of Monangai. \u201cHigh, high, high football and personal character. We believe he can come in and compete. We like his contact balance and, again, just the physical nature of how he plays football. And his pass protection is really good as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was the celebration. That was the haul. Not quite the exhilaration and grand fulfillment the Bears \u2014 and many of their fans \u2014 had envisioned when draft week began.<\/p>\n

With all due respect to Monangai, who by all accounts is a tough player and a good dude who will bust his tail to squeeze every drop of potential from his NFL journey, this year\u2019s running back class was advertised as one of the deepest and most talented in recent memory. It featured an electric headliner in Boise State\u2019s Ashton Jeanty<\/a>, plus plenty of proven playmakers to last well into Day 3.<\/p>\n

When the draft began Thursday, the running back aisle was fully stocked.<\/p>\n

Ohio State\u2019s TreVeyon Henderson<\/a>, anyone?\u00a0Iowa\u2019s Kaleb Johnson? Central Florida\u2019s RJ Harvey or Oregon\u2019s Jordan James?<\/p>\n

No wonder the eyes of so many talent evaluators and decision makers across the league were wide with anticipation.<\/p>\n

Yet the Bears didn\u2019t grab from the running back shelf until Round 7, in the final 50 minutes of a 257-pick draft and after 21 other running backs had been taken.<\/p>\n

\"RutgersRutgers running back Kyle Monangai is tackled by Illinois defensive back Matthew Bailey on Nov. 23, 2024, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo\/Rich Schultz)<\/p>\n

The Bears were the 21st team to address the position in the draft. (The Cleveland Browns grabbed two: Quinshon Judkins in the second round and Dylan Sampson in the fourth.) And of the 10 teams that didn\u2019t draft a running back, six had either a Pro Bowl performer or a 1,300-yard rusher last season.<\/p>\n

But when it came to upgrading their backfield, the Bears didn\u2019t make much of a splash and instead went in the direction their predraft grades told them to.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing into the draft, our goal was to really lean on the board,\u201d Poles said Saturday.\u00a0\u201cWe put a lot of time into it. We wanted it to really speak to us. I talked about that over the last two days, not forcing anything for need but really just taking the best guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Change of direction
\n\"BearsBears general manager Ryan Poles, right, and coach Ben Johnson discuss the team\u2019s moves in free agency and the trade market March 12, 2025, at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. (Audrey Richardson\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Instead of a running back in Round 2, the Bears wound up first with a wide receiver<\/a> and then an offensive tackle<\/a> and a defensive lineman.<\/p>\n

The Day 3 positions addressed were linebacker, cornerback and guard. And then, finally, a running back.<\/p>\n

Human nature had to trigger some frustration inside the draft room as the running back portion of the draft board seemed to consistently dance away from the Bears like \u2026 well, an elusive running back. All weekend long.<\/p>\n

Who did the Chicago Bears select in the 2025 NFL draft? Meet the 8-player class.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Inevitably, feelings of deflation and missed opportunity often interrupt the overall excitement of draft weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019ve always felt that,\u201d Poles acknowledged. \u201cEvery draft has pockets that you just don\u2019t fall into. Again, if you\u2019re going to be disciplined, you\u2019re going to let the board dictate how you do things and it just happens that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this particular draft, the Bears not only asked their board to speak to them, they turned up the volume.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo Ryan\u2019s credit, he stayed as disciplined as I\u2019ve ever seen in terms of staying true to how we set (the board) up,\u201d Bears coach Ben Johnson said. \u201cSometimes that gets hard. Sometimes you want to pick for need. But we didn\u2019t necessarily do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really good about the direction we went<\/a> and every decision we made along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Left out
\n\"ArizonaArizona State running back Cam Skattebo runs against Iowa State during the Big 12 championship game Dec. 7, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/Josh McSwain)<\/p>\n

The praise for Monangai in Lake Forest, however, was muted compared with some of the jubilation experienced elsewhere around the league.<\/p>\n

In Las Vegas, for example, Jeanty\u2019s arrival had 73-year-old Raiders coach Pete Carroll juiced up and preparing to utilize a playmaker he labeled as \u201ca marvelous talent,\u201d noting Jeanty\u2019s proven \u201cability to make plays when it doesn\u2019t look like there\u2019s anything there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn any play he can score,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cThat\u2019s just such an exciting aspect to add to our football team. We feel very fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n

In New England, where the Patriots drafted Henderson one pick ahead of the Bears in the second round, GM Eliot Wolf shared his excitement about the weapon he snagged.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis ability to be a threat and make huge plays was something that stood out versus the rest of the class,\u201d Wolf said.<\/p>\n

\u2018A match made in heaven\u2019: How the Chicago Bears settled on \u2018Idaho tough\u2019 Colston Loveland at No. 10<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Even the New York Giants were doing some fist-pumping and hugging after selecting Arizona State battering ram Cam Skattebo at the start of Round 4.<\/p>\n

Giants coach Brian Daboll couldn\u2019t stop listing the traits he fell in love with. Great contact balance. Impressive feet. Tough as nails. Versatile. Good vision. Runs with power.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our favorite players in the draft,\u201d Giants GM Joe Schoen said. \u201cJust the way he plays, the mentality he plays with, the toughness, the competitiveness, the grit. \u2026 Just a darn good football player. We were excited to get him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bears, it should be noted, had interest in all three of those backs, each taken in different pockets across the three days of the draft.<\/p>\n

\u2018It just didn\u2019t make sense\u2019
\n\"OhioOhio State running back TreVeyon Henderson leaps over Northwestern defensive back Braden Turner on Nov. 16, 2024, at Wrigley Field. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Jeanty was widely considered one of the truly elite prospects of the draft class, regardless of position. And while the Bears made exploratory but purposeful calls to gauge trade-up possibilities, Poles couldn\u2019t justify the price tag for jumping ahead of the Raiders at No. 6, even with the Browns open for business on trades at No. 5.<\/p>\n

In all likelihood, the Bears would have had to send the No. 10 pick plus at least one of their original second-round picks to make such a move.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just didn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Poles said.<\/p>\n

On Friday evening, fingers in the Halas Hall draft room remained crossed that a swing at landing a playmaking running back would connect. Poles pressed the gas and made aggressive attempts to trade up. Henderson\u2019s blend of speed and vision, plus his tenacity in pass protection and skill as a pass catcher, were alluring. The Bears had significant interest.<\/p>\n

A deal with the Tennessee Titans at No. 35 felt possible. Until it wasn\u2019t. The Titans found a better offer from the Seattle Seahawks.<\/p>\n

Is it possible Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears have too many toys on offense now?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Bears\u2019 push to cut one spot in line in front of the Patriots in Round 2 also had momentum. Until it didn\u2019t. At the last minute, New England made its decision at No. 38. Henderson was announced as the newest member of Mike Vrabel\u2019s offense at 6:33 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately we didn\u2019t feel the value that was being offered to us was worth possibly losing out on TreVeyon,\u201d Wolf said. \u201cSo we ended up sending the pick in.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Saturday began, 14 of the consensus top 20 running back prospects remained available. The belief was the Bears, picking seventh in Round 4, were eyeing a solid opportunity to add a talented back.<\/p>\n

Then the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Virginia Tech\u2019s Bhayshul Tuten at No. 104.<\/p>\n

Skattebo went to the Giants with the next selection.<\/p>\n

You could almost feel a hiss of air deflating out of Halas Hall.<\/p>\n

The next steps
\n\"BearsBears running back D\u2019Andre Swift carries the ball against the Seahawks on Dec. 26, 2024, at Soldier Field. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Not long after, the Bears retreated from pick No. 109, trading down 23 spots and again changing their draft wallet, almost certainly because their Saturday morning best-case scenario for the backfield had disintegrated.<\/p>\n

Naturally, during that subsequent 23-selection window, a run on running backs occurred: Georgia\u2019s Trevor Etienne to the Carolina Panthers, USC\u2019s Woody Marks to the Houston Texans, Auburn\u2019s Jarquez Hunter to the Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee\u2019s Sampson to the Browns, who already had dipped into the running back pool a day earlier for Ohio State\u2019s Judkins.<\/p>\n

As luck would have it, with pick No. 105, the Giants seriously debated internally whether to take Skattebo or Purdue offensive tackle Marcus Mbow. They took the running back \u2014 and still snagged Mbow 49 picks later.<\/p>\n

What if that debate had been settled differently? How many draft simulations did the Bears perform in which they obtained a more acclaimed back than Monangai?<\/p>\n

But as every draft proves, stuff happens. And adjusting is the name of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou wind up in some really cool situations in acquiring talented players who might come from a different position than you maybe would have liked them to,\u201d Poles said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, you\u2019re increasing the talent on your football team. And I do think you can get into a lot of trouble when you start trying to manipulate things to get into certain pockets and it ends up hurting your team long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Column: How Shedeur Sanders\u2019 NFL draft slide saga reflects the state of the nation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

So now what? How will the Bears fortify their backfield from here with D\u2019Andre Swift as the starter and Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, Ian Wheeler and Monangai as the current depth behind him?<\/p>\n

Could Poles and Johnson venture back to the free-agency flea market to check in on veteran options such as Nick Chubb, Jamaal Williams, Gus Edwards or Cam Akers?<\/p>\n

Or might the Bears choose to push their running back shopping further down the road, trusting Johnson\u2019s offensive vision and creativity to make the best of what\u2019s around?<\/p>\n

When the team\u2019s offseason program began earlier this month, there was internal confidence that Swift could be in line for a significant production jump after averaging a career-worst 3.8 yards per carry during his first season with the Bears. The push already has begun for the 26-year-old to become more disciplined with his running style, staying married to the play design and locked into his tracks longer.<\/p>\n

The Bears have optimism that Swift\u2019s union with new running backs coach Eric Bieniemy<\/a> will help him excel in 2025.<\/p>\n

Still, the organization\u2019s plans for using the draft to enhance and enliven its backfield were tackled for a loss. That sting should not be understated.<\/p>\n

Now comes the task of adjusting, of sounding through possible moves over the coming days and weeks to fashion a response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you blinked, you might have missed the review of the Chicago Bears\u2019 addition to their backfield in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[1303,374,1035,746,692,391,2493,7,2526,6,1034,596],"class_list":{"0":"post-10240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-ashton-jeanty","9":"tag-bears","10":"tag-ben-johnson","11":"tag-cam-skattebo","12":"tag-chicago","13":"tag-chicago-bears","14":"tag-chicagobears","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-kyle-monangai","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-ryan-poles","19":"tag-treveyon-henderson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114422345247693900","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}