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Chicago Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney unexpectedly broke out in his second season, going for 1,055 yards and four touchdowns in Justin Fields' rookie year.
After a slow start to his third season, Mooney got into a rhythm in Week 4. From Weeks 4-11, he averaged 58.3 yards per game and scored two touchdowns. That would have been good for 990 yards and a WR2 finish over 17 games. But he didn't last 17 games.
In Week 11, Mooney tore an ankle ligament and missed the season's final five games. Will he be back for training camp and be productive this season?
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Darnell Mooney Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Mooney entered his third season with high expectations. Unfortunately, as with the Bears' passing game, Mooney started off the season disappointing. In his first two games, the fifth-round draft pick caught two passes for four yards.
It was too bad he got hurt in Week 11. He would have been a good value if he could have stayed healthy. He was drafted as the WR29 and ranked as the WR22 from Week 4 to Week 11. With his poor start to the season and his injury causing him to miss five games, Mooney finished the year as WR67.
Now, he's going at WR55. He could be a good value, but only if he's healthy. Fantasy managers got good news about Mooney on the Amon-Ra & Equanimeous St. Brown podcast on The 33rd Team.
Mooney said, “I am running, I’m cutting, started cutting today. I’ll be 100 percent. I’ve got screws in my foot, so I’ll be a little robotic. Probably 1,000 times better than I was.”
He also said to WGN Chicago, "I'm feeling good. I'm ready to roll." Mooney noted that he is motivated to win and restore respect to his name. The WR is expected to practice with the Bears during training camp.
Darnell Mooney 2023 Fantasy Football Outlook
Assuming Mooney is healthy for this season, there are still some questions that need to be answered. Like how good is he?
He was feasting in 2021, as the team lacked a solid WR1. From Weeks 10-17 in 2021, Mooney averaged 10.1 targets per game. Despite the high amount of targets, he was graded at 74.7 on PFF, which certainly wasn't displaying elite talent. And he certainly would have earned less than 10 targets per game on a team with quality wide receivers.
This season, he will be competing with D.J. Moore for targets. The arrival of Chase Claypool didn't affect his volume in the three games they played together last season. Claypool was disappointing but Moore is a legit No. 1 WR who will probably be the feature of the Bears' low-volume passing offense.
The low volume of the passing game is the other problem. In coach Matt Eberflus' first season at the helm, the Bears ranked last in both passing yards and pass attempts per game.
The Bears will be better than they were last season. Many expect Justin Fields to take a step forward. But that is a projection, and it might not happen. Because Mooney is going as the WR55, he could have a sleeper upside. But even in his best-case scenario, he will probably not crack the top-24 wide receivers.
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