It was an eventful first week of training camp in Atlanta, especially for the Falcons passing game. The bad news is Darnell Mooney suffered a shoulder injury and “will miss several weeks,” per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Kyle Pitts got rave reviews from Michael Penix Jr. And D.J. Chark was signed.
Thankfully, all is quiet when it comes to Bijan Robinson and Drake London. And that’s fine for us.
Robinson should be considered the No. 1 running back this season, and he closed 2024 on a tear when he averaged 22.5 PPR points per game in his final eight outings, which was better than what Saquon Barkley (22.2) and Jahmyr Gibbs (21.4) did last season. And London is locked in as a top-10 Fantasy receiver worth drafting in Round 2 in all leagues, and he will hopefully build off his breakout campaign in 2024 when he averaged 16.5 PPR points per game.
As for Mooney, we’ll have to see when he’ll return to action. He left Thursday’s practice after attempting a diving catch, and hopefully he’ll be fine for Week 1. If he’s not scheduled to miss any time in the regular season then I’ll still draft Mooney as a high-end reserve receiver as early as Round 8. He could fall further than that given the shoulder injury, and we’ll readjust his value the longer he’s out.
Last year, Mooney had 64 catches for 992 yards and five touchdowns on 106 targets in his first year in Atlanta. He had eight outings with at least 13.2 PPR points, and he did well as the No. 2 receiver for the Falcons opposite London.
Mooney only had one healthy game with Penix in Week 16 against the Giants, and Mooney finished with five catches for 82 yards on six targets. There’s a lot to like about Mooney as a Fantasy receiver this season, but he needs to be healthy. He could be a weekly starter in three-receiver leagues with top-30 upside.
With Mooney banged up, does that mean it’s time to buy into Pitts again? Penix seems to think so based on his comments about Pitts on Thursday.
“Got KP the ball today,” Penix said. “Gonna be a lot of that.”
Pitts has been a major disappointment since his standout rookie campaign in 2021 when he had over 1,000 receiving yards. He averaged 8.1 PPR points per game or less in three seasons in a row, and he’s been frustrating for Fantasy managers.
In 2024, he started out the season playing well with 29 catches for 419 yards and three touchdowns in the first eight weeks of the season, and he scored at least 10 PPR points in five games over that span. But over the final nine games, Pitts had 18 catches for 183 yards and one touchdown and scored double digits in PPR just once.
Penix, however, only sees upside for Pitts. And Penix can help Pitts rebound in 2025.
“He’s been working hard,” Penix said. “He’s had a great summer. He says he feels really good coming into camp, and I can see it. He’s out there running very good. He’s catching the ball very well as well.”
We only recommend investing in Pitts with a late-round pick in all leagues. Let him surprise you this season, and maybe he’ll benefit with Mooney out.
It’s probably no coincidence that Chark signed Friday after Mooney was injured Thursday. He’s coming off a disappointing 2024 campaign with the Chargers when he only had five catches for 41 yards and one touchdown on 14 targets.
Chark hasn’t been Fantasy relevant since 2020 with Jacksonville when he averaged 11.8 PPR points per game. Since then, Chark has averaged 8.9 PPR points per game or less in four seasons in a row with the Jaguars, Lions, Panthers and Chargers.
At best, you can add Chark off the waiver wire if he starts off the season playing well, but we don’t recommend drafting Chark in any leagues, even if Mooney is out. Instead, Ray-Ray McCloud or Khadarel Hodge would probably benefit more than Chark with additional playing time in place of Mooney, but McCloud and Hodge are also just waiver-wire options in most leagues.
Mooney’s status will impact Penix, who is worth drafting with a late-round flier in deeper one-quarterback leagues as a sleeper. He started three games for Atlanta in 2024, and his Week 18 outing against Carolina was by far his best with 28.9 Fantasy points.
We need to see Penix be consistent with his production, and if that happens then he’ll be a popular waiver-wire addition in all one-quarterback leagues. And having a healthy Mooney and a rejuvenated Pitts will help this passing game in a big way.
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