One position that has gotten a ton of attention this past month for the Chicago Bears is the wide receivers. Fans have grown nervous about exactly how strong it is. Or isn’t in this case. Everybody knows Allen Robinson is a stud and that isn’t likely to change. Darnell Mooney was solid as a rookie. Beyond them? It gets questionable in a hurry. Marquise Goodwin is fast but has just one solid season to his name. The same goes for Damiere Byrd. Rodney Adams is the darling of training camp and the preseason but he too has struggled with drops.
There isn’t much to be excited about. Do the quarterbacks have enough weapons? People just aren’t sure. That is why it was nice to hear what Bears insider Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic had to say. When he and colleague Adam Jahns were pinpointing their most impressive offensive player of training camp, his choice was unquestionably Mooney. He thinks people haven’t gotten a proper introduction to how much better he’s gotten since last year.
“We didn’t think much of Mooney’s last camp. He was solid, his roster spot was locked in, but even the Bears weren’t sure how good he was until the season got underway. Getting to watch the “second-year jump” from Mooney this summer has backed up what the coaches have said. We know about the breakaway speed, but his route running is crisper.”
That is something to get excited about for sure.
People already knew Mooney was fast. He proved that several times as a rookie. Fans still have PTSD about the number of times Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles failed to hit him when he was streaking wide open down the field. It was felt that the next step for him to truly become a legitimate weapon was honing his route running. To that end, Mooney spent all offseason working with Robinson on that.
The results have apparently shown up a lot in practice. Perhaps the Bears coaches know this because they’ve given him few snaps in the preseason thus far. He’s always played one or two series at most before getting pulled. It is clear they are either protecting him from injury or trying to keep his improvement a secret for opening night. Probably both.
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Darnell Mooney is right on track to fulfill his potential
It was wild last year when head coach Matt Nagy openly said that Mooney reminded him a ton of Desean Jackson. The former Philadelphia Eagles Pro Bowl receiver. That is high praise. Jackson too was a speed threat who never got enough credit for how good of a route runner he was. Mooney has that same extra gear as Jackson did. It comes down to whether he can consistently beat man coverage like the latter was eventually able to.
The Bears can also find ways to help with that. Putting Darnell Mooney in motion and using other creative methods to get him in space or matched up on safeties or even linebackers. Outside of that, it’s about finding a quarterback that can get him the ball down the field. Maybe Andy Dalton can do that, but most would agree Justin Fields is the perfect match for him. No college QB had a better deep ball than him in the 2021 draft class.
Those two could make sweet music together.
Mooney even admitted his excitement at getting a chance to play with Fields. That may have to wait though. Dalton is the starter for the time being. That connection is the one to focus on. It sounds like the 23-year old is poised for big things this year. If the offensive line holds up, then fans could see a lot of big plays coming courtesy of #11.