{"id":724661,"date":"2026-06-09T06:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T06:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724661\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T06:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T06:59:09","slug":"bears-rb-duo-came-inches-away-from-claiming-nfls-top-rank-and-they-have-a-strong-shot-to-repeat-as-one-of-the-leagues-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/724661\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears RB duo came inches away from claiming NFL’s top rank – and they have a strong shot to repeat as one of the league’s best"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bears running back duo of D\u2019Andre Swift<\/a> and Kyle Monangai ranked second in the NFL in latest RB duo rankings, and yet they still seem to be disrespected.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bears fielded one of the league\u2019s top rushing attacks in the first season under head coach Ben Johnson \u2013 a testament to the scheme, offensive line, and the players leading the charge in the backfield.<\/p>\n

Chicago\u2019s offense rushed for 2,456 yards during the 2025-26 season, a number that led the NFC conference and ranked 10th in franchise history.<\/p>\n

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The two players that deserve a bulk of the credit for that is the team\u2019s RB duo of D\u2019Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, the only RB duo in the NFL to each rush for 750+ yards. So, the question is, was it enough to be viewed as the league\u2019s top RB duo?<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears RBs D\u2019Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai ranked as the second best RB duo in the league<\/p>\n

Bleacher Report\u2019s Moe Moton set out to answer that question<\/a> by doing the deep dive on the RB tandems for all 32 teams. Swift and Monangai placed second on the rankings and actually was ranked behind another NFC duo.<\/p>\n

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The top spot instead went to Los Angeles Rams<\/a> duo Kyren Williams<\/a> and Blake Corum<\/a>. At first, Chicago fans might be quick to question that. But, the stats do favor LA\u2019s duo by a slight margin.<\/p>\n

Players<\/p>\n

Games Played<\/p>\n

Rushing Yds<\/p>\n

Average Per Carry<\/p>\n

Yards Per Touch<\/p>\n

Total TDs<\/p>\n

Swift\/
Monangai<\/p>\n

33<\/p>\n

1,870<\/p>\n

4.84<\/p>\n

5.25<\/p>\n

15<\/p>\n

Williams\/Corum<\/p>\n

34<\/p>\n

1,998<\/p>\n

4.95<\/p>\n

5.17<\/p>\n

19<\/p>\n

There were a few factors that held Chicago back from the top spot. First, Swift missed one game and was limited for a few others due to a groin injury. Monangai also took a few weeks to get rolling because he was a rookie and needed to earn trust from the staff to prove that he had a firm grasp on the complicated scheme.<\/p>\n

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Moton also noted Monangai can \u201cmake strides as a pass catcher\u201d and I\u2019d say the same can go for Swift<\/a>. However, the limited receiving production was the same criticism Moton had for both LA backs as well. It\u2019s a really close argument to debate.<\/p>\n

Bears are not expecting any drop-off with Swift and Monangai in the run game<\/p>\n

When projecting how Chicago\u2019s duo could do in 2026, it\u2019s not hard to see how this tandem can take the throne this time next year. Swift took the time last week speaking with the media to explain why him and Monangai can be so dangerous together.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s no drop-off at all,\u201d Swift said. \u201cHe\u2019s able to do everything. I\u2019m able to do everything. It\u2019s tough on defenses when I make something happen, his number gets called, he makes something happen, like what are you going to do? Especially with the O-line we have and how those guys are coached and the way Ben\u2019s system is, it\u2019s a lot for a defense to account for four quarters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swift brought up a good point in there that plays a massive role in a RB\u2019s success, the offensive line. The Bears had one of the league\u2019s best units up-front but will have two new starters this season. That might be a concern for some, but not head coach Ben Johnson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had several new offensive linemen last year at this time as well,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI think that\u2019s one of the bigger challenges in our sport is getting five guys to play as one. That\u2019s regardless of how long they\u2019ve been together. I think we got a couple of the best offensive line coaches in the business running that operation, a lot of experience and a lot of wealth of knowledge that help make that transition a little better. . . <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a race. It\u2019s a race for us to get to know each other a little bit more. You saw a year ago, it took us a minute before that run game started to get going and clicking. There is a challenge that comes along with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Johnson added new RBs coach Eric Studesville is another veteran mind that can help lead the run game and add more schematically.<\/p>\n

All signs point toward Chicago\u2019s run game being just as lethal in 2026, if not even more dangerous. Which bodes well for Swift and Monangai\u2019s chances of stealing that top RB duo spot.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Bears RB duo came inches away from claiming NFL’s top rank – and they have a strong shot to repeat as one of the league’s best<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2026 A to Z Sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bears running back duo of D\u2019Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai ranked second in the NFL in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[3165,28608,49,48,1735,28605,234927,28606,28607,1749,514,2743,82,173157],"class_list":["post-724661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ben-johnson","tag-blake-corum","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chicago-bears","tag-dandre-swift","tag-duo","tag-kyle-monangai","tag-kyren-williams","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-nfl","tag-rb","tag-sports","tag-the-green-bay-packers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}