Chicago Bears veteran put on surprise notice after rookie has impressive minicamp

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson wants to have as much competition as possible for starting jobs before the season and touches during the season. One veteran was put on notice following rookie minicamp this weekend.

The three-day practice was a taste of what’s to come this spring. The Bears have several voluntary minicamp practices with veterans that will begin on May 20. Chicago will have mandatory minicamp from June 3-5.

Running back D’Andre Swift needs to impress his position coach, Eric Bieniemy, and the rest of Johnson’s staff this spring and in training camp to fight off Kyle Monangai for touches in the upcoming season.

The Chicago Bears have a surprise battle brewing

During an appearance on 670 The Score Monday morning, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune said there’s a real competition at running back this year. Even though Monangai was taken in the seventh round, the Bears believe he can be a true contributor in the league.

“It’s a wide open competition there at the running back position,” Biggs said. “You would imagine D’Andre Swift is going to be in the front of that. But there’s opportunity for two things, playing time and touches, and that’s why they drafted him (Monangai).

“Like you look at a lot of these day three picks, and in a lot of cases players are drafted on day three because of traits–like the size, speed, the testing numbers. This kid was drafted because of production in the Big Ten for Rutgers, and when you’re envisioning him being able to transfer some of that production that he had in school into the NFL.”

.@BradBiggs on Bears running back Kyle Monangai: “It’s a wide-open competition there at the running back position. You would imagine D’Andre Swift will be in the front of that, but there’s an opportunity for two things — playing time and touches. That’s why they drafted him.” pic.twitter.com/fxmmvwP93W

— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) May 12, 2025

Kyle Monangai has to prove it in training camp

Monangai recorded 3,222 yards and 27 touchdowns on 669 carries (4.8 yards per rush) during his five seasons at Rutgers.

Biggs said that it’s hard to gauge too much during rookie minicamp, as Monangai has to show he’s worthy of touches when the pads come on in training camp later this summer.

However, the big news is that Chicago thinks he has a legitimate chance to unseat Swift in 2025. Seventh-round picks are typically special teams contributors who get a chance here or there on offense during the season.

While the Bears aren’t likely to completely go away from Swift in the upcoming season, it appears Chicago plans to have a running back by committee. That will especially be the case if they sign a veteran running back like Nick Chubb or J.K. Dobbins.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-bears-surprise-competition-rb-2025?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=chicago-bears-surprise-competition-rb-2025