Who Should I Start? Kirk Cousins or Darnell Mooney

Thursday, December 11, 11:57 PM

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins completed 30 of his 44 pass attempts for 373 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions during Thursday's Week 15 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He also took one sack and recovered his own fumble. Cousins led five scoring drives on Thursday, including the game-winner with less than two minutes left to play. The veteran quarterback shook off the old narrative that he's incapable of thriving in the primetime slot, and in doing so, he kicked off his candidacy for the top-scoring fantasy quarterback in Week 15. It's unlikely that many managers started Cousins in the first week of the fantasy playoffs, but his big game could be enough to justify deploying him as a fringe top-12 fantasy option heading into a favorable matchup against the Arizona Cardinals next week.

Wednesday, December 10, 5:32 PM

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney was limited to just one catch on four targets for six yards this past week, his fifth one-catch performance of the season in 11 games played. The 28-year-old has had an opportunity to become the team's top receiver with Drake London (knee) missing the last three weeks due to injury, however, that role appears to have been occupied by tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. The 5-foot-11 wideout played on just 77 percent of the team's offensive snaps in Week 14, while David Sills V logged 94 percent and the aforementioned Pitts totaled 92 percent. The veteran will have another chance to carve out an expanded role in Week 15 versus the Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football, with London ruled out again and against a pass defense that is middle of the road in terms of fantasy points allowed to opposing wide receivers, but a unit that has yielded the sixth-most yards in the NFL through the air this season. For what it's worth, Mooney had a touchdown reception overturned last week because he stepped on the sideline before securing the pass, which could have been his second touchdown in the last three games despite the limited volume. Still, considering the situation at quarterback and Mooney's inability to garner sufficient targets, he falls outside the WR3 range this week, making him more of a boom/bust Flex play on TNF.