Who Should I Start? Travis Kelce or Darnell Mooney

Sunday, December 22, 6:47 AM

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had five catches for 30 yards in the 27-19 win over the Houston Texans. Kelce was held under 50 receiving yards for the third straight week. The 35-year-old still received ample volume, catching at least four passes each game. That said, fantasy managers have to be disappointed with his production lately. Fantasy managers advancing to the next round of the playoffs will have to hope for better production next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers rank 13th in fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends this season, making them one of the more difficult matchups. Despite still demanding volume in the Kansas City passing attack, Kelce has failed to do much with his opportunities. Kelce should be viewed as a lower-end TE1 for Week 17.

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.