Darnell Mooney in More Familiar Setting

First in a series of player projections for fantasy football purposes

There's little doubt Darnell Mooney thrived in the second receiver role within the Bears offense.

His Week 12 season-ending injury included, there's also little doubt Mooney failed to hit the mark as a No. 1 receiver last year by averaging 5.1 targets and 3.3 receptions.

With the arrival of DJ Moore, Mooney can resume a more comfortable spot away from double-coverage crosshairs. There is no doubt Mooney's targets should decrease with Moore available. However, they also could increase due to more familiarity with the offense by QB Justin Fields and the overall offense.

A real question for fantasy football owners or those merely trying to anticipate the coming season is the impact of being idle during Bears off-season work as he rehabbed an injury that required surgery. The Bears do expect Mooney will begin practicing as soon as camp begins.

Chicago Bears WR Darnell Mooney working his ass off to recovery from his injury and be ready for training camp 😤🔥

Its a big year for #11, the last year of his contract. He’s gonna go OFF 🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/xuVUCmSwFr
— Sadeek 𓋹 (@SadeekNextWave) June 28, 2023

"Yes, yep, absolutely," was coach Matt Eberflus' response when asked about this.

Eberflus didn't exactly instill confidence with his honest appraisal of the situation, though.

"So we'll see how it goes," he said. "And, of course, there could be delays or setbacks. I don't know. I'm not a doctor. But right now they're telling me it's all a green light."

Fields doubts it would take long to get Mooney up to speed at training camp even after he missed off-season work doing rehab, provided he really is healthy.

"With Mooney, I feel like I'm already connected with Mooney, so that's fine," Fields said about re-establishing ties

Another factor for consideration is if Chase Claypool could also eat away at targets Mooney could get. Claypool also missed most offseason workouts with injury issues not revealed by the Bears.

There are varying opinions on the work done by Claypool in the off-season. Regardless, there is no doubt this will also impact Mooney's chances at touches.

What really needs to be remembered is the Bears offense is not going to repeat the 2022 season. If it does, they might as well fire the offensive coaching staff. They've been supplied with weapons to make a passing game work and Fields looks improved. There will be more passing attempts. They were last in the NFL in pass attempts last year with 377.

So Mooney's targets might not decrease as much per game as some might expect.

It's all more of a guessing game than in other years with Mooney because of so many variables involved. Mooney as a No. 2 receiver had 142 catches his first two seasons and 1,686 yards with eight TDs, while averaging 11.9 yards a catch.

If the offense opens up as it should with so much speed involved and with Fields' arm strength taken into account, the one sure aspect of projecting the coming season is an increase in yards per catch.

Last year BearDigest projected Mooney at numbers slightly higher than the rate he produced, at 72 catches, 1,062 yards and six TDs. If he had maintained his rate of receptions before the injury throughout the season, he'd have come in around 57 receptions and nowhere near the 1,000-yard mark.

That was his production as a No. 1 receiver. As said, he is back in a much more familiar and comfortable role.

Darnell Mooney at a Glance

Vitals: 5-foot-11, 173 pounds, fourth season.

Career: 182 receptions on 299 targets, 2,179 yards, 10 TDs, 12.0 yards per catch and a 60.9 catch percentage.

2022: Made 40 catches on 61 targets for 493 yards, 2 TDs and a 12.3-yardZ average. He ran once for 2 yards.

The Number: 6. Mooney's 182 career receptions ranks him No. 6 in career receptions from his draft class, behind only Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Brandon Aiyuk, Tee Higgins and Michael Pittman.

2023 FanNation Projection: 66 receptions, 877 yards, 105 targets, 13.3 yards per catch, 6 TDs.

Michael Fabiano's SI ranking: No. 54 among all wide receivers.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven