Bears fans know that Kyle Monangai is going to be a star. Other teams may treat their 7th round picks as long shot, roster-fringe guys who maybe, every couple of seasons, make the active roster. But obviously the Bears are different. Bears fans know that their 7th rounders are different, and way better. Travis Homer isn't getting in the way of this 7th round pick.
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Unfortunately, ESPN has a clear bias against the Bears. It's not surprising – now that the Bears are undisputed offseason champions, everyone wants to see them fail. Nothing else could explain the egregious disrespect they showed Monangai and the Bears in their latest roster predictions, which – for some reason – are getting published in the middle of May.
In the predictions, they have Monangai – widely considered the best 7th round pick of the draft and arguably already one of the best 7th round picks ever – with one of the most underwhelming stat lines you'll read all summer.
Bleacher Report throws cold water on the Kyle Monangai hype
2025 projection: 20 carries, 84 yards, 1 TD; 2 receptions, 13 yards, 0 TDs
"Monangai is only 5-foot-8 and didn't show well at the combine. In Rutgers' middling offense, his 1.5 yards before contact per run over 47 games was the lowest in the class -- but his average yards after contact (3.3) was solid. He managed more than 1,200 rushing yards in each of his final two college seasons. Monangai will open his career behind D'Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson and perhaps also Travis Homer."
He's short and not athletic is a brutal way to begin a scouting report. And you know what happens when players don't show well at the precious combine! (I'll be honest, I thought the combine was just a big mixer for NFL media at this point. They apparently still do football stuff?) I get not having him start ahead of Swift, and even Johnson to an extent, but Homer? If Monangai isn't even at Homer's level, I'm not suuuuuuuuper sure there's a spot for him on the roster. Hope Ben Johnson knows what he's doing!
First the Caleb Williams scandal, and now some Momangai slander? ESPN really doesn't want the Bears to succeed. That must mean the rumors are true: the Bears are back.