The 2025 Chicago Bears have been a solid team this year. New head coach Ben Johnson has completely revamped the Chicago offense, in particular. Caleb Williams looks completely different this year and is playing better. Then, the Bears have a two-headed monster in the backfield that will continue to split carries between D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai.
In a big notebook, ESPN NFL insiders, Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, wrote down the intel on everything that happened around the NFL Trade Deadline and everything else they heard from around the NFL that week. With the Bears' backfield situation, Monangai is projected to still get carries, even with D'Andre Swift coming back. Ben Johnson will split the carries because both are proven playmakers at this point.
Graziano elaborated more when he said, “The Bears could get D'Andre Swift back as early as this week's game against the Giants, but rookie Kyle Monangai has earned a larger role in the offense than he had in the first half of the season. I'd expect coach Ben Johnson to find ways to keep them both involved. Chicago's run game is operating at a high level, and the Bears likely will lean into it the rest of the way while Caleb Williams continues his development.”
This season, Swift has 100 carries for 464 rushing yards and four touchdowns, while also having 18 receptions for 192 yards and one touchdown. In comparison, Monangai has 68 carries for 362 yards and one touchdown. However, he broke out against the Bengals last week with 26 carries for 176 yards after Swift sat out due to injury.
Monangai is a rookie out of Rutgers and was selected in the seventh round. He was a workhorse running back at Rutgers and has the toughness to compete in the NFL, and that's why the Bears have a lot of faith in him.
The offense that Ben Johnson has implemented in Chicago is night and day different from what they were running before he got there.
It starts and ends with Caleb Williams. He has emerged as a solid NFL quarterback. He has 1,912 passing yards, 12 passing touchdowns, and four interceptions. He also has a 61.5% completion percentage. His improved play in his second year, thanks to this offense, also allows for Swift and Monangai to play even better in the backfield.
