Who Should I Start? Darnell Mooney or Christian Watson

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 21, 4:45 PM

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson has been the Packers' primary downfield option in recent weeks and looks to break off some long gains as the Packers host the New Orleans Saints in Week 16. Watson's game is well-known at this point for fantasy: break off a long gain or two and hope he gets into the end zone. With two 100-yard games in his past five contests, Watson has been a solid fantasy option. When he hasn't, he's been hard to stomach when in lineups. With Romeo Doubs returning last week from concussion protocol, that adds another weapon and spreads out targets even more for the other remaining pass-catchers like Watson, Jayden Reed, Tucker Kraft, and others. With Watson being a clear boom-or-bust option in fantasy football lineups, he's more of a volatile flex option despite a great matchup against the Saints in Week 16.