Darnell

Mooney

Mooney, who sustained a shoulder injury during practice this week, will miss the final game of the regular season — a must-win matchup for the Falcons. His absence should be a fantasy boost for Kyle Pitts and Ray-Ray McCloud against a terrible Panthers coverage unit. The Falcons also declared CB Kevin King, ILB JD Bertrand, DL Brandon Dorlus, OL Elijah Wilkinson, and T Brandon Parker inactive against Carolina.

Rapoport didn’t rule Mooney out but reiterated that it is an uphill battle for the veteran receiver to play this week. Mooney suffered the shoulder injury in practice and was downgraded to a DNP on Friday, a bad sign for his Week 18 outlook. Assuming he doesn’t suit up, KhaDarel Hodge will step into the three-receiver rotation alongside Drake London and Ray-Ray McCloud.

Mooney was added to Thursday’s injury report and listed as a limited participant but was a DNP on Friday. Mooney and the Falcons still have an outside shot at clinching a playoff spot if they win on Sunday and the Buccaneers lose to the Saints. Add to that the fact that Mooney is eight yards shy is reaching 1,000 yards for the second time in his career, making it hard to imagine him sitting. That said, Friday’s DNP is a real concern when it comes to his Week 18 availability. His status will be one to monitor over the weekend.

This is a new injury for Mooney so Friday’s injury report should be closely followed. The Falcons notably downgraded six players to limited on Thursday so it is possible this is a precautionary load-maintenance move. The Falcons are on the playoff bubble so expect Mooney to play through the injury, if at all possible.

Mooney took a significant backseat to alpha wide receiver Drake London in this one, the latter of whom saw a robust 13 targets as Michael Penix’s top target. Mooney will look to get back into good fantasy graces in Week 18 when the Falcons aim to save their season against the Panthers.

Looking to bounce back from his Kirk Cousins-induced doughnut in Week 15, Mooney rebounded for his second most yards in the past five weeks. Mooney’s effort came as Drake London checked out with a hamstring injury. The Falcons’ initial lean is that London will be good to go for Week 17 against the Commanders, but his absence would push Mooney into the top 24 for finals week. If London goes, Mooney still seems to have re-established WR3 status with Michael Penix Jr. now under center.

The Atlanta defense held the anemic Las Vegas offense in check for more than three quarters, resulting in only 17 Kirk Cousins pass attempts as the Falcons focused on moving the football on the ground. That said, this was not a good effort from the Falcons nor Kirk Cousins, who missed multiple routine throws while the situational play calling from the sideline was severely lacking. Mooney could find more success against the struggling Giants in Week 16 however unlikely immense volume remains.

Mooney’s second 100-yard game of the season was also a new career high. With a struggling Kirk Cousins desperate to get something, anything going down the field, he found Mooney for gains of 28, 24 and 49 yards. Mooney ran right by Stephon Gilmore on the 49-yarder. Good stuff, but the Falcons’ passing game looks increasingly broken because of Cousins’ ongoing struggles. A move to first-round rookie Michael Penix could come at any moment. Mooney will be a volatile WR3 for Week 15 against the Raiders.

Mooney looked no worse for the wear after tweaking his hamstring in Week 11, but he was held under 30 yards receiving for the second consecutive contest as Kirk Cousins’ struggles grew more concerning. It’s Cousins that has Mooney falling further down the WR3 ranks headed into a Week 14 matchup with the Vikings. The Vikes actually allow a healthy amount of receiver production, but they are going to eat Cousins alive if he continues to show as little arm strength and athleticism as he did on Sunday against the Chargers.

The hamstring injury Mooney suffered in Week 12’s loss to the Broncos was reported as minor the following day. After logging a limited week of practice, the speedster is officially good to go for this week’s game against the Chargers. Prior to last week’s injury, Mooney had posted three-straight games of 86 or more yards and found the end zone in two of those games. Mooney profiles as a fringe WR2/WR3 against one of the league’s top defenses.