Who Should I Start? Darnell Mooney or Rondale Moore

Tuesday, March 12, 11:54 AM

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 and could hold flex value in 2024.

Thursday, March 14, 1:39 PM

The Atlanta Falcons are acquiring wide receiver Rondale Moore from the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday in exchange for quarterback Desmond Ridder, according to a source. Moore will give new quarterback Kirk Cousins yet another weapon in the passing game out of the slot. Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts will be the top two aerial targets for Cousins in his first year in Atlanta, but Moore, 23, will provide plenty of speed out of the slot. The former second-round pick of the Cardinals in 2021 out of Purdue has scored just one touchdown in each of his three NFL seasons and had his best statistical season in his rookie year with a line of 54-435-1. From a fantasy perspective, it will be difficult for Moore to stand out in Atlanta after the Falcons also signed Darnell Mooney in free agency.