NFL Draft
4/3/25
3 min read
Kyle Monangai 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Rutgers Scarlet Knights RB
Height: 5082 (verified)
Weight: 211lbs
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Mohamed Ibrahim
Scouting Overview
Rutger Scarlet Knights running back Kyle Monangai is a well-rounded runner who does a lot of the little things well. He’s got good vision, runs hard, offers good leverage, protects the football, and can win in pass protection with consistency.
It all adds up to the right kind of back you’ll want in your stable of players, but his athletic limitations underscore the nature of his position and why the league values it the way it does. Monangai is missing an athletic differentiating trait that could coax a team to instill him as a featured back.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| RB | Kyle Monangai | Rutgers | 4.6 | 1.54 | 117 | 34.5 |
Positives
- Runs hard and low to the ground behind his compact pads to claim tough yards
- 0 career fumbles on nearly 700 carries at the college level
- Shows good vision, processing, and execution with his pass protection assignments
Negatives
- Lacks open field burst or consistent ability to gouge defenses to break pursuit angles
- High-mileage college back who will be 23 years old before the draft
- Offers little appeal as a pass-catching threat
Background
Monangai is from Roseland, NJ, and played high school football for Don Bosco Prep. There, he was a productive back and a 3-star recruit (247 Sports). As one of the top 50 ranked players from the state, Monangai made the decision to stay close to home and enrolled at Rutgers as a member of their 2020 recruiting class. Monangai played in five games as a true freshman but retained his college eligibility thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic policy from the NCAA.
He played in 11 more games as a second-year freshman in 2021 before assuming a full-time starting role at running back entering 2022. Monangai would start 11 of 12 appearances in 2022 and finished second on the team in all-purpose yards.
He was voted a team captain in 2023 and started all 13 games that season, breaking out with more than 1,200 rushing yards and averaging more than 5 yards per carry for a resurgent Rutgers program. He was voted Second Team All-Big Ten for his performance and also named the MVP of the Pinstripe Bowl.
Monangai returned as a captain in 2024, starting 11 games and again posting more than 1,200 rushing yards. He finished his career with 52 games and 35 starts at Rutgers, enjoying accolades in both of his final two seasons — he was named First Team All-Big Ten for his play in 2024.
Tale Of The Tape
Monangai is a low-cut running back who offers good contact balance and toughness as a ball carrier. This is not a player who will create a lot of explosive runs or solo added yardage to your offense, but it is a player who will reliably capture available yardage as blocked before finishing tough.
The challenge for this evaluation is that without remarkable physical traits, there is an “ease of replacement” element that can hurt Monangai’s draft value. At the same time, high football IQ players who are tough and do the little things should be a welcomed culture fit on every roster across the league, and that’s where he fits as an attractive Day 3 back.
Thanks to his contact balance and low center of gravity, he runs tough and can make subtle track adjustments on account of his step frequency and stride length. There’s a missing element of explosion or burst that would allow him to dictate the terms of his runs more consistently, but he’ll pick up available grass plus a few extra on the hard finish. Overall, Monangai is a disciplined runner who plays hard and illustrates reliable ball security.
In the passing game, Monangai is a much more proficient pass blocker than he is a pass catcher. He shows good striking ability and sufficient framing of the pocket. He’s very active with his eyes to find pressure from depth and works about as hard as any back in the class on getting involved from steeper angles or out of the mesh point.
He’s taken less than two dozen snaps from split out of the backfield across all four seasons, however. And Monangai does not appear to have the athletic ceiling to attack coverage defenders and create wins on option routes or up the sideline. He’s a low-yield target in the passing game.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Monangai would be a welcomed fit in any scheme or system, but his lack of juice likely cuts down on his appeal for teams that want to push the perimeter and create horizontal stretch via outside zone.
He’s best suited to run inside zone and serve as an early down back — in the right situation, he could be a primary ball carrier, but teams will likely always thirst for more dynamic ceilings to pair him with.
Grade: 70.50/100.00, Fifth Round Value
Big Board Rank: 190
Position Rank: RB20
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