Who Should I Start? Darnell Mooney or Juwan Johnson

Sunday, January 4, 11:54 AM

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney (knee) is officially active for Sunday's Week 18 contest against the New Orleans Saints. He had been listed as questionable after logging back-to-back limited practices. The 28-year-old has failed to meet expectations while occupying the No. 2 wide receiver role for most of this season. He has played 81.8% of the offensive snaps when healthy but has a modest stat line of 29 catches, 423 yards, and one touchdown. Mooney finds himself buried in the pecking order behind Drake London and Kyle Pitts Sr. As a result, we expect him to remain off the fantasy radar against the Saints on Sunday. He can be benched in most leagues.

Saturday, January 3, 4:23 PM

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson has enjoyed a breakout campaign in his age-29 season, setting career highs in targets (98), receptions (74), and yards (828) entering Week 18's season finale against the Atlanta Falcons. Johnson has recorded at least four catches in seven straight games and in 12 of 16 contests on the year. His 35 receptions since Week 10 rank fifth most among tight ends. New Orleans is dealing with multiple injuries on offense, particularly at wide receiver, with Chris Olave (illness) and Devaughn Vele (shoulder) both out for this game. The Saints' available wide receivers on Sunday are Kevin Austin Jr., Dante Pettis, Ronnie Bell, and Samori Toure, which sets Johnson up to see a heavy dose of targets. With how well rookie QB Tyler Shough has been playing and plenty of targets up for grabs, Johnson ranks as RotoBaller's TE3 for Week 18.