When the Atlanta Falcons worked out a trio of wide receivers earlier this week, the thought crossed my mind that Darnell Mooney was on the verge of getting the Ray-Ray McCloud treatment and being unceremoniously
and inexplicably dumped during the regular season.
It seems far-fetched at first, but given the lack of production from Mooney thus far this year, it’s not as if the team would be losing much on the field.
Mooney’s 2025 fall-off has reached epic proportions
Mooney has been one of the league’s least reliable pass catchers this year, thanks to frequent drops, with the highest drop rate according to PFF entering Week 11. His calling card in 2024 was his explosive plays, which have disappeared from this year’s offense. Mooney ranked second among wideouts last year with 21 catches of 20 or more yards, but has just caught two such big-play passes this year. Both occurred in the closing seconds of the first halves, wasted on drives that didn’t lead to points as time expired.
That contrasts with 2024, where four of Mooney’s five touchdowns came on explosive plays of 20 or more yards. In addition, the drives in which Mooney generated explosive plays often resulted in scores, a total of 84 to be exact. That’s an average of 4.9 points per game that Mooney’s chunk yardage contributed to in 2024. Adding that type of production and scoring back into the current year’s offense would increase the Falcons’ output from 27th-ranked to 16th-ranked. It’s easy to imagine how much of a difference those plays could have made in the Falcons’ three one-score losses this season. Simply put, Mooney’s 2025 decline has been devastating to the Falcons’ offense this year. Now, coupled with the recent revelation that Mooney suffered a broken collarbone early in training camp, an even larger cloud of doubt and concern hangs over the sixth-year receiver.
Restoring a Mooney-sized shot of adrenaline into the offense could do wonders to provide more scoring down the home stretch of the year, as the Falcons are desperate to snap their four-game losing streak. Whether it results in the Falcons winning more games remains to be seen, but it’d make the games more entertaining to watch. Can the Falcons deliver on the vision of the high-flying Michael Penix-led offense promised this summer? Where the second-year quarterback acts as the point guard, distributing the ball effectively to weapons like Mooney, Drake London, Bijan Robinson, and Kyle Pitts? That would be worth tuning in for on Sundays, since getting a reliable winning team is too much to ask for as a Falcon fan.
Michael Penix’s inconsistencies have also contributed to Mooney’s problems
But Mooney’s lack of a connection with Penix is a two-way street, with the young quarterback’s erratic ball placement not a good match for the diminutive receiver. Listed at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, Mooney’s catch radius isn’t suited for contorting his body to deal with the equal probability of Penix sailing the ball three feet above his head or throwing it at his ankles.
Penix did exactly this several times against the Indianapolis Colts. It’s on the Raheem Morris-led coaching staff to accelerate their ability to get on the same page. They’ve failed utterly, as they have at many things this season. With the latest controversy surrounding some comments Penix made earlier this week, suggesting that no one on the staff helped him work on his game, that urgency increases.
The clock is ticking on Raheem Morris and Mooney’s impending exits in 2026
The Falcons’ inability to solve problems this season should push Morris out the door at year’s end. Their failed attempts at resolving the revolving door at kicker, replacing Divine Deablo, or avoiding getting “out-Atlanta-ed” show Morris isn’t capable of stabilizing a struggling roster. Ironically, it’s come during a season where the Falcons have finally found a pass rush. The football gods are cruel.
Mooney’s struggles are just one more fire this coaching staff can fumble trying to put out. Without a late-season surge from the team’s second wideout, the Falcons are sure to move on after the season. Mooney has an $18.5 million cap hit in 2026, far too high a figure for a wideout on pace to finish this year with 28 catches. The Falcons could save $7.5 million by cutting him in March, according to OvertheCap.com.
Whoever is in charge of the team and offense next year will need to prioritize adding a second receiver next spring to complement London, who is on track for a pricey extension to match his improved 2025 production, despite battling injuries throughout the year like Mooney. Of course, none of London’s nagging injuries has been as serious as a broken collarbone. But the Falcons will be incentivized to go with a cheap option via the draft to offset the Brinks truck they’ll be backing up to London’s front lawn.’
Mooney, like Morris and so many others currently on the Falcons’ roster, should be fighting to save his job over the next two months. With their backs to the wall, they face a must-win challenge on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. If things don’t fare better this weekend for Mooney, Penix, and the offense amid the multitude of concerns, then all fleeting hopes for a dramatic turnaround are over. It’ll be just another dropped opportunity, much like the many that have gone through Mooney’s hands this season.
