Who Should I Start? Darnell Mooney or Ladd McConkey

Saturday, September 13, 10:47 AM

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney (shoulder) was a full participant in practice on Friday after being limited earlier in the week, and heads into Sunday night's matchup with the Vikings without an injury designation. The 27-year-old should slide back into his role as No. 2 receiver behind Drake London (shoulder), who also practiced fully on Friday. Mooney owned a solid 21.3 percent target share last season with the same receiving corps, although much of that was with Kirk Cousins under center. In the two games he played with Michael Penix Jr. at the helm, Mooney's target share dropped to 17.7 percent. Going up against a tough run defense, the Falcons may prefer to attack Minnesota through the air, but with plenty of receiving options at their disposal and Mooney potentially getting eased back into action, the sixth-year pro should be viewed as a high-end WR4/Flex play in Week 2 with some slight upside in PPR formats.

Wednesday, September 17, 6:20 PM

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey (biceps) is on the Week 3 injury report and was listed as a non-participant at Wednesday's practice. It could help explain why McConkey wasn't all that involved in the Monday night win over the Las Vegas Raiders, when he caught all five of his targets for 48 yards. In the season-opening win over the Kansas City Chiefs, the second-year pass-catcher caught six of nine targets for 74 yards. McConkey is a must-start each week in fantasy lineups if he's active, especially with quarterback Justin Herbert looking strong early in 2025, but his status will be worth monitoring going into Sunday's divisional tilt in Week 3 against the Denver Broncos. If McConkey is unable to play this weekend, Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston will both draw more targets, as will rookie Tre' Harris. The return of Allen and the emergence of Johnston, who has three touchdowns in two games, has certainly lowered McConkey's fantasy ceiling so far.