People keep saying week after week that the Chicago Bears don’t have any wide receivers. GM Ryan Poles committed a borderline crime by not doing enough to give Justin Fields actual weapons. It is rather remarkable how easily they keep ignoring Darnell Mooney. The former 5th round pick has accomplished such amazing things over the past two years. He broke the Bears long-standing rookie record for receptions with 66 in 2020. Then last year, despite catching passes from three different quarterbacks, he still cracked 1,000 yards.
Yet, as June approaches, people still refuse to acknowledge the idea that he might be good again in 2022. In fact, for those paying close enough attention, there is a realistic chance he has one of the best receiving seasons the Bears have seen in the past decade. That may sound overly optimistic, but it comes from hard data available from last season.
Fields and Mooney played together across 12 games.
During that span, the quarterback targeted the wide receiver 62 times. He connected on 32 of those passes for 534 yards. That averages out to 16.68 yards per catch. Let’s say Mooney repeated his 81 catches from last year with that average applied. He would end up with 1,351 yards receiving in 2022. That would go down as the fourth-best single-season of receiving in Bears history, topping Jeff Graham’s 1995 when he had 1,301.
This isn’t even presuming Fields’ completion percentage to Mooney should also improve significantly. Don’t forget the two rarely worked together in training camp last year. Mooney ran with the first-team offense while Fields spent most of his time with the second team by order of Matt Nagy. When the quarterback stepped in as the starter in Week 3, the two had almost zero chemistry. Yet they still managed to produce a host of big plays together. It was obvious Mooney was his favorite target by a wide margin.
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Darnell Mooney should also benefit from the new offense.
The wide zone system that Luke Getsy is bringing with him from Green Bay is known for its run scheme, but it’s also known for its diverse play action. If executed correctly, Mooney will find himself wide open a lot this year because defenses are forced to bite on the play fakes. This offense has benefitted speedy receivers like him in the past. Deebo Samuel posted 1,405 yards last season in San Francisco. Julio Jones had 1,871 yards in 2015 playing in it. DeSean Jackson cracked 1,000 yards twice in three years in it.
Getsy himself has already worked with somebody like Darnell Mooney. He spent several years with Marquez Valdes-Scantling in Green Bay. His style of play is similar to the Bears receiver in many ways though Mooney has better hands and route-running skills. Valdes-Scantling had 690 yards and just 33 catches in 2020.
All signs point to an upward trajectory for Mooney.
He will need Fields to stay healthy for an entire season. Their chemistry is vital to this projection working out as it should. That aside, it is wise to stop saying the Bears have no receivers. They at least have one good one, and he’s poised to deliver the best season of his career.
