When prompted to name any players who stood out during mandatory minicamp, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson mentioned two players on each side of the ball, but one name especially stood out.
"In the running back room, Kyle Monangai has really stepped up", Johnson said. "I appreciate the attention to detail and the pride he takes and how quickly he's picking things up."
Heading into the first preseason game, Johnson praised Monangai again.
"I’ve been very pleased with where he’s at,” Johnson said. “I think he’s a guy that we’re going to be able to trust this fall.”
An injury late in the preseason limited Monangai's role in Week 1, and his role remained limited after that (22 carries over the next four games). Over the last two games though, as D'Andre Swift deals with a groin issue, Monangai has had a much larger role (20 carries, 60 offensive snaps) while averaging 5.3 yards per carry over that span.
Opportunity is knocking loudly for Kyle Monangai in Week 9
There's plenty of data, traditional or otherwise, showing why Monangai has earned and will maintain a notable role in the Bears' backfield. If Swift ever were to miss time, it would be wheels up for the rookie who showed he can handle a workhorse-level workload during his final two years at Rutgers.
Swift's practice workload has been managed carefully as he has has been playing through his groin issue. But his practice participation went the wrong way this week, and on Friday he was ruled out for Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. No. 3 running back Roschon Johnson is also out.
So, Monangai is line for all the work he can handle against Cincinnati's 32nd-ranked run defense. The Bengals, as expected with that in mind, are also allowing the most fantasy points per game to running backs entering Week 9.
12 running backs have topped 70 yards from scrimmage against the Bengals this season, and an opposing back has topped 100 yards from scrimmage against them in five of their last six games. In three straight games, a back has had 20 or more touches and topped 145 yards from scrimmage against them.
Read more: Ben Johnson reveals how carefully D'Andre Swift's injury is being managed
Monangai has been a worthwhile waiver wire add in recent weeks, but he is still rostered in just 44.3 percent of ESPN leagues and 41 percent of Yahoo! leagues as of this writing (probably higher as you're reading this). With the RB1 role for the Bears all to himself, if only for a week, it's hard to find more sheer upside on the running back docket in fantasy this week.