Today, we’ll be discussing another exciting college RB talent for your Devy and Dynasty leagues: Kyle Monangai, RB out of Rutgers. Being a later breakout, Monangai may not be a name your league mates are familiar with. He’s entering his fifth season at Rutgers, which is enough reason for many fantasy players to write him off entirely, especially when you consider how loaded this 2025 RB draft class projects to be. Does Monangai have what it takes to become a true NFL talent and hit our Dynasty rosters? Let’s take a look at his resume and find out.
High School
Monangai was not a highly-touted prospect coming out of high school, only receiving offers from two Power 5 programs: Rutgers and Cal. He was rated a 3-star recruit by 247Sports, ESPN, and Rivals. Monangai ultimately decided to stay in his home state of New Jersey and play for the Scarlet Knights, committing in December of 2019.
Kyle attended Don Bosco Prep School in Ramsey, New Jersey. As a senior, he played in 11 games, totaling 130 rush attempts, 926 yards, and 11 touchdowns. He also tacked on 20 receptions for 334 yards and six receiving touchdowns. Monangai’s senior year numbers were good enough to earn him First-Team All-Conference honors and Second-Team All-State honors. He was listed as 5’9″ and 200 pounds out of high school, using his stout frame to bully smaller defenders on a regular basis.
Rutgers
Monangai redshirted as a freshman in 2020, only appearing in five games and recording no stats. Since then, he has become increasingly involved for the Scarlet Knights every season. From 2021-2023, Mongangai saw his rushing attempts and yards increase substantially yearly. This past season, Kyle broke out with 1,262 rush yards and eight rushing touchdowns, averaging 5.2 YPA in the Big Ten. He had seven contests where he broke the century mark on the ground, including a 24 rush attempt, 159-yard performance against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Monangai went from being buried on this Rutgers depth chart to becoming an integral part of their offensive game plan. He looks to build off his impressive 2023 season with an even better 2024, to hopefully hear his name called in the NFL Draft next Spring.
Strengths
Kyle Monangai’s biggest strengths are his build and his pure rushing ability. Since enrolling at Rutgers, he has gained 10 pounds of lean mass and is now listed at 5’9″ and 210 pounds. Monangai displays excellent patience in the backfield and has some burst through the hole. He keeps a low center of gravity and can fight through contact consistently. His size and strength also make him an asset as a pass protector.
Analytically, Monangai had a tremendous 2023 season. He finished 9th in the country in PFF Run Grade, with a score of 92.2. He was 45th in the country in yards after contact per attempt (YCO/A) with 3.64 (minimum 100 attempts). And he finished as the RB8 overall in missed tackles forced, with 73 total. This was good for a juke rate of 30.2%.
Weaknesses
While I believe Monangai is a capable pass catcher with some soft hands out of the backfield, he hasn’t been overly involved in the receiving game at Rutgers. His best season as a receiver was back in 2021 as a redshirt freshman, hauling 10 passes for 68 total yards. In PPR formats, it appears Monangai’s ceiling will be severely capped, even in the event he finds himself in a starting role one day.
Monangai isn’t going to outrun many DBs in the secondary at the next level. He has some decent burst and acceleration but lacks that true breakaway speed, which also prevents him from creating much separation as a receiver.
Lastly, as we mentioned earlier, Kyle is entering his fifth collegiate season. He’s already 22 and will be 23 before the 2025 NFL Draft even begins. We all know RBs typically have a short shelf-life, so coming into the NFL at 23 is not something we love to see as a Dynasty player. He’ll also need to post another quality season if he wants to secure Day 3 draft capital.
Conclusion
Kyle Monangai has earned every bit of NFL hype that comes his way after the numbers he posted in 2023. He’s a pure rusher with the size and strength to handle a 3-down workload. However, given the competition he’s facing in this RB class, as well as his age and lack of involvement as a pass catcher, I don’t know if Monangai has what it takes to secure a meaningful role at the NFL level. He’s an elite talent to acquire in C2C leagues, as we can have confidence in a big 2024 season, and he at least has the upside to be an NFL producer. In Devy leagues, I would hold off on drafting him unless your startup drafts have 10+ rounds or you’re multiple years into your Devy league, and the player pool is very depleted. However, I would still keep an eye on Monangai as we head into the fall. He may surprise some people and emerge as one of the top backs in this upcoming draft class.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I hope you got some valuable information you can use for your fantasy team! If you’d like additional insight into Dynasty Football news and analysis, please follow me on Twitter at @jim_DFF. Until next time, keep grinding out there, DFF family! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding
