Who Should I Start? Darnell Mooney or Adonai Mitchell

Friday, December 20, 10:30 PM

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney picked a terrible time to have his worst outing of the season, recording zero catches on one target against a depleted Raiders defense. The 27-year-old posted a one-catch performance back in Week 1, but averaged almost five catches per contest from Week 2-14. Now, with confidence shaken combined with a rookie quarterback making his first start, fantasy managers who survived Week 15's debacle must decide whether or not to use Mooney in Week 16. The lack of success last week should probably be attributed to Kirk Cousins more than Mooney, however. Still, even though the Falcons are nine-point favorites on Sunday versus the Giants, Atlanta is likely to deploy a heavy dose of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier against a defense that has yielded the fourth-most fantasy points to running backs on the season. If the Falcons do need to ask Michael Penix Jr. to throw, then the receivers should see some success, as New York allows the third-highest completion rate to QBs and has only intercepted a pass twice on the entire year. All that being said, Mooney looks like a shaky WR3 in the fantasy playoffs this Sunday.

Saturday, December 14, 11:13 AM

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Adonai Mitchell didn't catch either of his targets back in Week 13, a disappointing outcome considering the Colts were without one of their top pass catchers in Josh Downs. It was Alec Pierce who earned an uptick in targets, not Mitchell, although there wasn't much production to go around anyway with quarterback Anthony Richardson throwing only 24 passes and completing just 12 of them for 109 yards. The 22-year-old has caught one pass or less in five of his last six games and the Colts take on a daunting Denver pass defense in Week 15, so production could once again come at a premium. Downs had a bye week to recover and although he is questionable, the 23-year-old got in two full practices to end the week so it looks like he has a good shot to play. Regardless of whether he's in or out, it likely doesn't change Mitchell's outlook, which is not good. With the fantasy playoffs upon us, managers should look elsewhere as there should be better options on the waiver wire.