It hasn’t taken Bears rookie receiver Darnell Mooney long to turn heads with his performance on the field. While Mooney’s numbers haven’t been extravagant, they don’t need to be. At least not yet.
Mooney made an impression in his debut performance against the Lions, where he caught three receptions for 38 yards. But it wasn’t just the fact that he caught all three passes thrown his way. It was in how he took the field like a veteran, where we could see flashes of speed that the Bears will certainly utilize to stretch the field.
It was more of the same in his second outing, this time against the Giants, where Mooney caught all three passes thrown his way for 36 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown at the end of the first half. He also saw an uptick in snaps, where his playing time nearly doubling from 32% in Week 1 to 60% in Week 2.
While it’s early, it certainly looks like the fifth-round pick out of Tulane can become a special player. Take it from someone that’s been working with Mooney since his arrival in Chicago.
Allen Robinson invited Bears receivers to his home in Florida for offseason workouts, where Mooney quickly impressed Robinson. And he’s done more of the same in these first two games.
“I knew that he for sure is a guy that can have a special career,” Robinson said. “He’s always trying to get better. Body-wise, nutrition-wise, he’s one of those guys who truly wants to be the best player that he can be, and whenever you have guys like that, you know the sky is the limit for them and they’ll always be able to find ways to have success.”
Robinson has described Mooney as a rookie who is “locked into details” and has the potential to “stretch the field, be moved around and adapt to the game very quickly.”
It’s clear that Mooney has impressed the coaching staff and earned the trust of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Following two impressive outings in his first two games, all eyes will be on Mooney to see how his role in this offense grows.
Perhaps general manager Ryan Pace has found another late-round gem.
