BRONX, N.Y. – In his last game of the season, Rutgers football running back Kyle Monangai started his campaign for the Heisman and the Doak Walker Award in 2024.
Monangai, the Big Ten’s leading rusher in the regular season, ran for 163 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries as Rutgers beat Miami in the Pinstripe Bowl this past Thursday. The performance was an emphatic statement from Monangai, who announced earlier in December his intention to return to Rutgers next year.
With 1,262 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns on the season, Monangai will likely be the top returning running back in the Big Ten next year. It puts a target on him, but also a spotlight that is unique to the program.
In deciding to come back for one more year, Monangai has said that he wants to complete some “unfinished business” at Rutgers. But his return also signals that Monangai has the potential to be the program’s first Heisman candidate since Ray Rice in 2007.
“What went into my decision was I just felt like there was more left to be done,” Monangai said after the bowl game.
“When guys make that step to go to the next level and whatever they want to do, not come back, whatever it may be, I feel like that’s them saying they’ve done everything they can, and they’re ready to move on. I just feel like there’s more to be done.”
Now, to be a Heisman candidate, Monangai would have to do a lot of things right. First off, he would need to not just replicate his 2023 season, he’d have to improve and really rattle off some big games. He would also have to stay healthy and Rutgers would also need to take a step forward as a program.
But it isn’t far-fetched to think Monangai could be the type of player that come October next season is getting some national buzz. After all, there aren’t many Power Five running backs returning who have led their conference in rushing.
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The decision to return was also fueled in part to better help his stock in the NFL draft. Another strong season could see Monangai vault into being a sure-fire draft pick.
“For me, he’s more straight line and less powerful than Rice,” said former NFL general manager Randy Mueller. “He has quick feet and some north-south acceleration but the lack of ideal size will bother some at the NFL level when it comes to getting behind his pads and running with power.
“Obviously, he is best in space, having good vision for running where ‘they’re not’.”
A former general manager with the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins, Mueller spent a decade as senior executive for football operations with the Los Angeles Chargers before leaving that role in 2018.
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Mueller thinks that were he to come out for this April’s draft, Monangai would have likely been a late-round selection or even an undrafted free agent. If he performs like this past season in 2024, then Mueller believes he can be “Maybe a mid-rounder if he stays heathy.”
“He might fit some systems better than others,” Mueller said.
“I think in his case, he’s going to have to show he can compete on special teams and in other areas besides just carrying the ball.”
For Monangai, the Pinstripe Bowl win over Miami was a bit of validation for his decision to return for his senior season. Rutgers finished the year 7-6, marking the program’s first winning season since 2014.
It was also the first bowl win for Rutgers since that very same 2014 season. Now having completed their fourth season under head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag], Rutgers appears to be going in the right direction of what has been an extensive and at times painful rebuild.
Monangai was one of the first commits to Schiano when he returned to the program in December of 2019. A three-star recruit out of New Jersey powerhouse program Don Bosco, Rutgers was one of two Power Five programs to have offered Monangai.
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He was just the No. 26 recruit in New Jersey.‘s class of 2020 Now, he could be lining himself to be in contention for some national awards.
Undoubtedly, he is the face of the program in many ways, not only for his production but also because he worked and fashioned himself from an under-recruited prospect into a player who might just be the best running back in the Big Ten.
“The win today I think is a huge impact. Being able to go 7-6, that’s not the goal we set for ourselves in the beginning of the season, but to finish over .500 is a big step for this program,” Monangai said after the Pinstripe Bowl.
“To win the last game of the season is definitely something positive to build off going into the offseason.
“Recruiting-wise…I think that is something to show the high school guys, like, hey, these guys know how to win, they’re taking steps in the right direction, so it’s somewhere I want to come play.
“Like I said all the time to the guys, it’s not easy to play here. It’s definitely a hard place to play. But that’s just because coach Schiano demands of us, and he knows what it takes to win. We have to be willing to step up to the plate and do the day in and day out.
“It’s a huge impact, this win.”
A Rutgers football fan? A fan of Kyle Monangai? Scroll down and check out the best photos from the 2023 season of Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai!