Darnell Mooney's Stats, Metrics, Game Logs, Projections & Rankings

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney picked a terrible time to have his worst outing of the season, recording zero catches on one target against a depleted Raiders defense. The 27-year-old posted a one-catch performance back in Week 1, but averaged almost five catches per contest from Week 2-14. Now, with confidence shaken combined with a rookie quarterback making his first start, fantasy managers who survived Week 15's debacle must decide whether or not to use Mooney in Week 16. The lack of success last week should probably be attributed to Kirk Cousins more than Mooney, however. Still, even though the Falcons are nine-point favorites on Sunday versus the Giants, Atlanta is likely to deploy a heavy dose of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier against a defense that has yielded the fourth-most fantasy points to running backs on the season. If the Falcons do need to ask Michael Penix Jr. to throw, then the receivers should see some success, as New York allows the third-highest completion rate to QBs and has only intercepted a pass twice on the entire year. All that being said, Mooney looks like a shaky WR3 in the fantasy playoffs this Sunday.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney garnered a single target in Monday's 15-9 win over the Raiders, but failed to haul it in, finishing with zero catches on the night. Mooney had been limited in practice by a foot injury earlier in the week but was cleared to play, so the dud seemed to be more a result of Kirk Cousins lobbing up just 17 passes on the night and completing only 11 of them. It is a punch in the gut for managers who were relying on the wideout in the fantasy playoffs after he'd received six targets in 10 of Atlanta's prior 13 games coming into Monday night and caught at least three passes in 11 of 13. For fantasy managers that were able to survive this showing, the fifth-year pro will be hard to trust in next week's home matchup versus the Giants, especially given how poorly Kirk Cousins looked in Week 15 against a softer pass defense.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney (foot) upgraded to a full practice session on Friday after he was limited in the team's first official practice of Week 15 on Thursday. Barring a setback in the team's final practice on Saturday, Mooney should be cleared from the final injury report and be good to go for Monday night versus the Las Vegas Raiders. Even in another disappointing loss in Week 14 to the Minnesota Vikings, the 27-year-old Mooney was a bright spot for Atlanta, catching six of his seven targets for 142 yards. In the last five weeks, Mooney has been the WR44 in average half-PPR scoring with 16 catches for 285 yards on 27 targets. He'll be facing a Raiders defense that has allowed the third-most half-PPR points to wideouts in the last five weeks. Mooney should have a strong fantasy floor as a WR3/flex given his 96 targets on the year, which are tied for the 13th-most among receivers.