Darnell Mooney

WR·

New York Giants·#17·5'11"·177 lb·6th year·Tulane

Tier 1Round 5, pick 173 in 2020

Updated November 4, 2026

70.1

Model Score

Up from 69.3 last year

Trade value ·a 7th

Player comps Be the Giants GM →

Darnell Mooney has 9 catches, 113 receiving yards and 0 touchdowns in 7 games for the New York Giants this season through Week 8, 3.4 PPR points a game (updated November 4, 2026).

Model Score by season

Up 0.8 from last season.

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

A field-stretching second receiver who lives or dies with his quarterback.

The case for

2021 Chicago season (81 catches, 1,055 yards) plus 2024 Atlanta breakout (64 catches, 992 yards) confirms genuine WR2 ceiling when QB play cooperates.
Sub-4.4 forty plus the 4-year, $39M contract through 2026 establishes both physical profile and franchise commitment.

The worry

Three tier 8 finishes in five seasons (#75 in 2023, plus the 2025 #91) shows the floor when the QB room collapses.
Drake London absorbs the alpha target share; Mooney's WR2 ceiling depends on Penix Jr. distributing volume to the field-stretching WR2 role.

What to watch: Whether his 2026 target share clears 7 per game with Michael Penix Jr. as the locked starter, the threshold he needs for any return to tier 4 territory.

Full take and bio

Two career bright spots (#36 with Chicago in 2021, #27 with Atlanta in 2024) sandwich three tier 8 finishes (#75, #79 prior, #91 in 2025). The 2025 game log has one Wk 12 16.4 PPR spike against a backdrop of mostly sub-7 PPR weeks. The career arc is bounded by QB stability: when the QB is good he produces tier 4-5; when the QB is unstable he collapses to tier 8. At 28 the trajectory is what Michael Penix Jr.'s 2026 development determines.

Mooney came out of Tulane as Chicago's 5th-round pick (173rd overall) in 2020. His Bears career produced one tier 5 (#36 in 2021, 81 catches for 1,055 yards) season as the lone bright spot in a four-year stretch dominated by Chicago QB chaos. He signed a 3-year, $39M deal with Atlanta in 2024 and immediately produced a tier 4 (#27) breakout (64 catches for 992 yards) with Kirk Cousins post-Achilles. The 2025 #91 (tier 8) collapse came with Cousins benched and Michael Penix Jr. taking the offense in a different direction.

Comps

The players whose size, testing and production looked most like his at the same point in their careers. The percent is how close.

Devin Hester ’1188%

Mike Wallace ’1587%Dennis Northcutt ’0578%

Jarius Wright ’1976%

Aldrick Robinson ’1769%

Plays like: Cecil Shorts, Adonai Mitchell, Marqise Lee. Built like: Dennis Northcutt, Eric Rivers, Zachariah Branch. Coming out: Phillip Dorsett, Kyle Williams, Steven Sims.

Of his 20 closest coming out: 2 stars, 3 starters, 11 backups, 4 didn't stick.

Darnell Mooney Props This Weekat PHI Sun Nov 8

Market	Line	Over	Under
Anytime TD		+500 BetOnline

Best price across 9 books as of Mon Nov 2. Lines move; check the book before you bet. This week's board · Line Room

Play Darnell's numbers on Underdog · partner link

Darnell Mooney Injury StatusNot listed

Darnell Mooney is not on the injury report as of Nov 4. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

This season · 7 games

Rec9

Rec Yds113

Rec TD0

Targets22

Yds/Gm16.1

Fantasy PPG3.4

EPA / target1.134

Avg separation4.0 yd

Avg cushion7.6 yd

YAC over exp-1.5

Catch %28.6%

3.4 fantasy points a game, 24 PPR on the season. Every game on the Game Log, every season on Career. Advanced numbers are EPA and Next Gen Stats.

Contract2026 cap

2026 Cap Hit

$3.0M

APY

$3.0M/yr

Guaranteed at Signing

$3.0M

Years on Deal

Signed

2026

Est. Value

$11.1M/yr

underpaid by $8.1M/yr

Every year of the deal, the dead money and what a cut or trade saves on the Contract tab.

Fantasy outlookWeek 9

Our rest-of-season board has Darnell Mooney at WR100 (the public consensus says WR93); the model has 45 PPR points left for him this season; this week he visits PHI.

Price a trade for him on the fantasy trade calculator, or see the whole board on the Fantasy hub.