Darnell Mooney is having a breakout year for the Chicago Bears, and there is no doubt about it. He has 51 catches for 721 yards this year with five games to go after recording 631 yards on 61 catches last year. He has more yards, on fewer catches, showing he is more efficient and productive.
Still, as he ascends into being a known NFL commodity he will have to continue to work on his game. Some fans may know where this is going and say that Darnell Mooney needs to work on his drops. That is fair, but not quite, as he ranks in the middle of the pack per PFF.
However, sometimes they may not be defined as drops. The biggest issue for Mooney comes down to contested catches. According to PFF, Mooney has four catches on 15 targets in contested situations.
That is the 10th worst rate in the NFL. Some big names join him such as Tyreek Hill, JaMarr Chase, and Calvin Ridley, but Chase is a rookie and Ridley has missed a lot of time after a down year.
Other names with similar issues in contested situations include Robby Anderson, Kaliff Raymond, Mecole Hardman, Laviska Shenault, Zach Pascal, and Cole Beasley. That is not good company to be with.
It is fair that Mooney is a slimmer wideout, and when he wins with speed, he is not relying on contested passes. However, if he wants to round out his game and become a complete wideout, these are the big catches he is going to have to make.
Often these are passes where he is jumping in the air and has to win at the catch point. Sometimes he cannot power all the way to the ground with a defender on him. However, to really complete his game, Mooney also has to become more reliable going over the middle. The Bears hardly even try, mainly because he is explosive down the field, but also because they know that this is not his strength.
He could take hits over the middle, and at least have heavier defenders crashing in on him as he hauls in passes. Without trusting him to haul in the tough passes, he is not a threat over the middle. It limits his route tree overall.
Darnell Mooney is a great wideout and has proven to be an upper-echelon complementary wideout. However, if he can prove that he can make tough catches over the middle and in the air, then we can start to view him as a legitimate threat that teams have to game plan for, rather than gameplan around.