5th Round (173rd overall) - WR Darnell Mooney, Tulane | Bears 2020 Draft

[Epyon]

Also remember that Ginn is relatively old, and that running 40 deep down field sprints constantly isn't exactly sustainable.... Mooney could easily have an active game day role behind Ginn helping take the top off defenses at any point in the game we want to, or in tandem with Ginn so we get more than one speed mismatch on the field at the same time. I think he offers more to the offense as a whole than Mims or Ridley have shown.

Side note regarding Mooney, apparently he was a guy our wr coach specifically was pounding the table for in the draft meetings. 

[soulman]

1 hour ago, Pool said:

 

I don't see much problem with his hands in this video.  He's taking in throws with his hands and away from his body, he's got great body control, and he can go up and get back shoulder throws in tight coverage.  And he's fast, very fast.  Can't see a problem with this.

[soulman]

51 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

@dll2000 I’m not going to suggest that Mooney is Hamler as a prospect, but I don’t know how you can look at those two players and say one looks big enough to play in the league and the other doesn’t. I certainly haven’t seen enough Tulane football to suggest Mooney hasn’t been hit hard but Mooney missed the same amount of games as Hamler did the past two seasons (zero). 

From the Combine:

Hamler: 5'9"/176lbs  Arms: 30 3/4" Hands: 9 3/8"

Mooney: 5'10"/176lbs  Arms: 30 7/8" Hands: 9 5/8"

Twin sons of different mothers as far as size goes so you nailed it.

And just for ****s and grins whose scouting report is this drawn from, Hamler's or Mooney's?

Overview

Explosive slot target who hits the scales as a lightweight but could have heavyweight impact on games. His blazing speed is used solo and in route combinations to stress secondaries and create big plays. He had an alarming number of drops in 2019 and the routes are ragged, but his athleticism and separation burst on all three levels helps mitigate those concerns. He's a smallish slot who isn't built for the tough yardage and could have durability concerns if he's run into too many collisions. However, speed kills and his game-breaking potential on all three levels will be enticing as a high-risk, high-reward draft pick.

[Pool]

15 minutes ago, soulman said:

I don't see much problem with his hands in this video.  He's taking in throws with his hands and away from his body, he's got great body control, and he can go up and get back shoulder throws in tight coverage.  And he's fast, very fast.  Can't see a problem with this.

My thoughts as well. Fighting through coverage for the ball as well. 

[AZBearsFan]

Let’s just hope he’s more Johnny Knox than Airese Currie... 

[soulman]

11 minutes ago, Pool said:

My thoughts as well. Fighting through coverage for the ball as well. 

And here's one of mine in addition.  It's based on being a 20 year vet of football forums.

Fans get enamored of a certain player.  Let's use Hamler as that example.  Pre-draft he's in every mock they do if they do them and if not they lobby for him in nearly all of their posts.  Then comes the draft.  We pass on Hamler in round two instead selecting a WR with very similar traits in round five but those who had their hopes pinned on Hamler will refuse to see any similarities in Mooney and will come back to denigrate him in some ways and the pick.  Happens after every draft.

We needed to draft speed at WR.  We actually did draft speed at WR but not the speed they wanted so the post draft complaints and rationalizations abound.  We can't always get what we want but if we try sometimes........we get what we need.

[dll2000]

33 minutes ago, soulman said:

From the Combine:

Hamler: 5'9"/176lbs  Arms: 30 3/4" Hands: 9 3/8"

Mooney: 5'10"/176lbs  Arms: 30 7/8" Hands: 9 5/8"

Twin sons of different mothers as far as size goes so you nailed it.

And just for ****s and grins whose scouting report is this drawn from, Hamler's or Mooney's?

Overview

Explosive slot target who hits the scales as a lightweight but could have heavyweight impact on games. His blazing speed is used solo and in route combinations to stress secondaries and create big plays. He had an alarming number of drops in 2019 and the routes are ragged, but his athleticism and separation burst on all three levels helps mitigate those concerns. He's a smallish slot who isn't built for the tough yardage and could have durability concerns if he's run into too many collisions. However, speed kills and his game-breaking potential on all three levels will be enticing as a high-risk, high-reward draft pick.

Two people can be same size and weight and still be different.  It's just a feel thing.   Hamler looks like he is an NFL player from get go while Mooney looks like a long shot to my eye.  

Obviously both have been small since grade school football, so they are used to it.

 

 

[G08]

On 5/1/2020 at 11:17 AM, soulman said:

I don't see much problem with his hands in this video.  He's taking in throws with his hands and away from his body, he's got great body control, and he can go up and get back shoulder throws in tight coverage.  And he's fast, very fast.  Can't see a problem with this.

Hands look good in the video, ditto with tracking over his shoulder and attacking the ball in the air.

The video also did not include any of his drops, on the radio I heard 18% of his targets were dropped. That has to change, if in fact true (I haven't tried to confirm).