Who Should I Start? Deshaun Watson or Darnell Mooney

Saturday, December 14, 12:27 PM

Despite being 3-10 heading into a Week 15 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cleveland Browns expect quarterback Deshaun Watson (Achilles), reigning NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry to return in 2025, according to sources. Watson's role, however, is up in the air with the Browns moving forward after he suffered a season-ending Achilles tear midseason. Cleveland traded three first-round picks to the Texans to acquire Watson in 2022 and then signed him to a five-year, $230 million fully guaranteed contract. Since joining the team, he has played in just 19 games and has posted a weak 80.7 passer rating when on the field. A post-June 1 release of Watson would create around $119 million in dead money, which would be the most in NFL history. The Browns are stuck with Watson for now, and he'll be off the fantasy radar coming off his serious injury in 2025.

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.