Former Tulane Football Star Receives Rave Reviews From Atlanta Falcons
The Tulane Green Wave football program has started to put more players in the NFL over the past few years and some of those former stars are now signing their second contracts.
One such player that moved teams on a big-money deal was wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who just signed a three-year, $39 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons.
Mooney spent four seasons with Tulane between 2016 and 2019. He had 154 catches for 2,572 yards and 19 touchdowns during his college career. He really made a name for himself at the combine, shining with a 4.38-second 40-yard dash.
The Chicago Bears selected the speedster in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL draft. Despite being a day three selection, hopes were high for his time there.
He had a 1,000-plus yard season there, but didn't surpass 500 in either of his last two due to different injuries.
Now, with Atlanta, he figures to be a large part of a newly-renovated offense. The Falcons signed Kirk Cousins away from the Minnesota Vikings in massive deal that made him their new starting quarterback.
Mooney joins Drake London and Rondale Moore as the new targets for Cousins this season.
The former Green Wave pass catcher has a leg-up on the competition to build chemistry and earn more targets, as he revealed that he and Cousins are locker-neighbors during a press conference after a recent training camp session.
Early training camp returns have been solid for the new duo. BloggingDirty's Nick Halden named Mooney as one of the players that has already 'turned heads' so far.
"Considering Kirk Cousins' tendencies the match made sense on paper and has translated into camp production," said Halden. "While we are a long way from the regular season it is exciting to see the chemistry already being built. With Atlanta's defensive concerns the offense must be a top-ten unit and that is only possible if Mooney is the player who has shown up in camp."
The talent has always seemed to be there on paper with the receiver, but there were many reasons that his tenure in Chicago didn't go as planned. One big reason was the level of play from quarterbacks. Cousins is by far the best pass thrower that he's played with and Mooney already seems to be happy with his choice of team.
"Kirk's the guy. He's the reason why everything is flowing," said Mooney to the media after practice.
DYLAN SANDERS