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

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney impressed during training camp and is the team's clear WR2 heading into the 2024 season. Matt Urben of Falcons Wire said that Mooney and tight end Kyle Pitts "continued to make plays as they have throughout training camp" during the final scrimmage at Wednesday's open practice. The fifth-year wideout did not get a lick of preseason action yet finds himself as the clear-cut second option in the Falcons' wide receiver corps. He'll still have Bijan Robinson and Drake London to vie against for targets, as well as Pitts. However, Mooney holds a bit of appeal despite potentially being the fourth option in his offense. A fully healthy Kirk Cousins will be a big boost to the entire unit, and Mooney is far and away the cheapest option of this group in fantasy drafts. He's Yahoo!'s WR70 in ADP and a strong target in best ball drafts.

Atlanta Falcons wide receivers Darnell Mooney and Rondale Moore "will be relied on to provide more consistency" throughout the 2024 season, according to Josh Kendall of The Athletic. Notably, the Falcons are expected to deploy numerous three-receiver sets, leaving room for both Mooney and Moore to contribute alongside Drake London. Mooney, a Tulane product, tallied 2,593 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns over his first four pro seasons. His best season came in 2021 when he racked up 1,055 receiving yards and five total touchdowns. If Mooney can return to his 2021 form, he'll be the Falcons' No. 2 wide receiver and a low-end FLEX option in fantasy football. Moore also flashed potential in Arizona prior to his trade from the Cardinals to the Falcons. Over his first three pro seasons, Moore has 1,201 receiving yards, 249 rushing yards, and four touchdowns. He, too, could become a fringe fantasy WR3 in the right situation.

Free-agent wide receiver Darnell Mooney is joining the Atlanta Falcons on a three-year, $39 million deal, reported by NFL insider Ian Rapoport. The 2020 fifth-round pick out of Tulane posted 81 receptions for 1,055 yards and four touchdowns with Andy Dalton and a rookie Justin Fields as his primary quarterbacks in 2021, but he has not matched the production since. In 2022 and 2023 combined, he totaled 71 receptions for 907 yards and three touchdowns. However, he's now set to play with the best quarterback of his career, as Atlanta secured Kirk Cousins on a four-year deal on Monday. Mooney figures to be behind Drake London and Kyle Pitts in the target pecking order, but Cousins has supported up to three, and sometimes four, fantasy-relevant pass-catchers in a single season. Mooney is now on the fantasy radar as a sleeper and could hold flex value in 2024.

The Kansas City Chiefs, among other teams, remain interested in free-agent wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who had a 1,000-yard season under Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy from their days with the Chicago Bears. Mooney put up a career-high 1,055 yards and four touchdowns on 81 receptions in 2021 with Nagy as the head coach, but he's played in just 27 games in two years since then, combining for 907 yards and three touchdowns. In 15 games last year, Mooney was pretty much invisible, catching 31 passes for 414 yards and a TD, so his fantasy stock is basically on life support, and his 1,000-yard season is looking like an outlier. However, a move to the Super Bowl-champion Chiefs would make Mooney somewhat interesting as a late-round flier in deep leagues. However, outside of Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, Patrick Mahomes spread the ball around in last year's offense.

Chicago Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney (concussion) missed practice all week and has been ruled out for the Week 18 regular season finale on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Mooney will close out a disappointing campaign by missing the final two games of the year. The 26-year-old was in the shadow of top wideout DJ Moore all season, and it didn't help that quarterback Justin Fields missed valuable time due to injury midway through the year. Mooney finishes his fourth NFL season with career-lows in catches (31), receiving yards (414) and touchdowns (one) in 15 games played. Moore should be Fields' top target yet again as the Bears look to spoil Green Bay's bid for a postseason appearance, while rookie Tyler Scott, Equanimeous St. Brown and others should be more involved as well.