Darnell

Mooney

Mooney caught three passes in his previous three games combined. Reeling in three balls in this game is an improvement, but it was still a rough day for Mooney. He continued to struggle with drops and averaged an inefficient 4.9 yards per target. Drake London got injured late in this game and could miss Week 12. Mooney will cling to WR4 life if London is out. He will otherwise be off the fantasy radar entirely.

That does help explain why Mooney has had such a rough season, both with being able to stay on the field and his struggles on it. A year after a 64/992/5 season, Mooney has caught more than one pass just three times this season, hasn’t scored, and has cracked 50 yards just once. This is useful context for why — until we see a good Mooney game, we’re probably going to have a hard time recommending him in all but deep leagues.

Mooney committed multiple drops on a day when the Falcons desperately needed a second pass-catcher to step up. He has now caught exactly one pass in three straight games. Drops and missed opportunities have been a headline feature of his slump. Mooney has been banged up throughout the year, which could be contributing to his poor play. Either way, fantasy managers should put him on the bench until he turns things around.

Mooney has fallen to the No. 4 pass-catching role in the Falcons’ offense. Robinson and Pitts get the short and intermediate targets while London is a definitive WR1 with a full route tree, leaving Mooney with marginal targets on the outside. He is averaging just two receptions per game this season and has become an afterthought in the Falcons offense. Mooney can be safely dropped in shallow leagues and left on benches in 12-team leagues for Week 10 against the Colts.

Mooney was upgraded to full participation on Thursday, though his Friday participation has not yet been released. Assuming he remains a full go, his Week 9 game against the Patriots serves as somewhat of a prove-it week. The Falcons’ field-stretching wide receiver has finished in the WR3-WR4 range just twice this season. Now, in reasonably good health, Mooney enters no-excuses territory. He can be treated as a volatile FLEX option against the Patriots.

Mooney remained limited through three practices before playing last week, so today’s upgrade is a great sign. Still, Mooney is tough to trust after such an underwhelming performance. The Falcons’ field-stretching wide receiver is a boom-bust flex option against the Patriots in Week 9.

Mooney has been playing through the hamstring issue for a few weeks. He was modestly successful in Week 7 with three grabs for 68 yards. Mooney couldn’t replicate that production with Kirk Cousins under center, catching just one pass for 11 yards. His fantasy outlook will get a bump with Michael Penix expected to return this week, but Drake London could also be back on the field, slashing Mooney’s target ceiling. Fantasy managers should treat Mooney as a high-risk WR4 versus the Patriots.

Mooney failed to connect on multiple deep shots from Kirk Cousins in this game and wasn’t particularly involved on short or intermediate routes. He did manage to draw a long defensive pass interference call in the third quarter, which doesn’t show up in the box score. It’s possible Mooney hasn’t fully recovered from the hamstring issue he has been dealing with for a few weeks. Either way, it will be hard to trust Mooney in Week 9 versus the Patriots, even if Drake London remains sidelined with his hip injury.

The Falcons smartly managed Mooney’s practice reps all week to keep him ready for action on game day. While his availability is an overall positive, he is still clearly managing a soft tissue injury, which makes him somewhat of a re-injury risk. Mooney led the team with 68 receiving yards in Week 7, though, and the Dolphins are surrendering explosive pass plays at the league’s fifth-highest rate (15.3 percent). Mooney is a WR4/FLEX.

It’s become the norm — Mooney has been limited or a DNP in five straight practices, but he did play without restrictions on Sunday night, logging 83.1 percent of the snaps. We’ll continue to assume he’s being managed. There’s some blowout risk against the Dolphins but Mooney is a fine FLEX play with six teams on bye.