Inside Darnell Mooney's Falcons Resurgence

As smart as an offensive coordinator yet as vocal and controlling as a quarterback, Atlanta Falcons receiver Darnell Mooney brings more than just savvy routes.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney is in the midst of a resurgent 2024 season. / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Darnell Mooney placed his right foot ahead of his left, standing by himself on the left side of a three-by-one formation while waiting for quarterback Kirk Cousins to call for the snap.

The Atlanta Falcons faced a third-and-6 with just over two minutes to play in the first half of a tied NFC South matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with the winner taking first place in the division through eight weeks.

For the first 10 yards of his route, Mooney glided in a straight line. Once he reached the 20-yard line, Mooney jabbed to his left, eliminating the cushion between himself and Buccaneers rookie cornerback Tyrek Funderburk.

But as soon as Funderburk's feet began to slow in response to Mooney's move, the Falcons' standout receiver had already re-routed back to the inside.

Mooney beat Funderburk, the pass from Cousins hit Mooney in-stride and Atlanta took a 21-14 lead that it ultimately never relinquished -- thanks, in part, to Mooney's brilliance.

"The touchdown to Mooney was just a great route by him," Cousins said postgame. "Getting the separation from the corner and then just wanted to make sure we can layer it over the safety, which we were able to do."

Getting open and scoring touchdowns is nothing new to Mooney -- but after two years of struggles with the Chicago Bears, he entered this season hoping to remind the rest of the NFL who he truly is: one of the sport's most nuanced wideouts.

He's done nothing but help his cause.

***

For some, route running begins at an early age. It didn't for Mooney.

Instead, the Gadsden, Ala., native outran his peers. He'd pick the ball up and wouldn't stop until he was in the endzone. Few others seemed to notice.

Mooney received only one reported scholarship offer -- Tulane University in New Orleans. He was a 3-star recruit, according to 247Sports, but ranked No. 2,468 in the class of 2016.

When Mooney arrived at Tulane, he played in an offense predicated on the triple option, far from receiver friendly. Still, he finished as the team's second-leading receiver, catching 24 passes for 267 yards and two scores as a true freshman.

His numbers jumped in 2017, and again in 2018, when he caught 48 passes for 993 yards -- an American Athletic Conference-leading 20.7 yards per reception. He had a productive senior year in 2019, logging 48 receptions for 713 yards and five scores while playing in a pro-style offense.

Mooney finished his career with over 150 catches, 2,500 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns. His numbers and production impressed the Los Angeles Rams' assistant receivers coach, a 33-year-old up-and-comer named Zac Robinson.

Now the Falcons' offensive coordinator, Robinson studied many of the receivers in the 2020 draft class. He talked to Mooney at the NFL Combine, an encounter Mooney doesn't remember but indicates how long he's been on Robinson's radar.

"Loved, obviously, the speed, his ability to make plays down the field, the toughness, run after catch," Robinson said. "All those things that we're seeing now, he displayed that at Tulane."

But on draft day, the 5'11", 177-pound Mooney fell to the fifth round, when the Bears selected him No. 173 overall. He was the 25th receiver selected. Only six of them -- all drafted within the top 34 picks -- have more receiving yards than he does.

Mooney smiled when thinking back on his draft fortune. After all, one year later, 180-pound Jaylen Waddle (Miami Dolphins) and 170-pound DeVonta Smith (Philadelphia Eagles) went inside the top 10.

"I knew I was going to fall because of my size," Mooney told Atlanta Falcons on SI in October. "And then, shoot, the next year, the 2021 class, literally everybody that was getting drafted looked like me. So I was a little prototype, and then it worked out. Everybody was like, 'Let's go get the 170-pound guy.'"

The Falcons made the same move this spring, giving Mooney a three-year, $39 million contract -- despite a tough two-year stint in which he caught only 71 passes for 907 yards and three touchdowns.

Now, Atlanta is reaping the rewards of its bold investment.

***

Like Robinson, Cousins had prior knowledge of Mooney's game -- if only partly.

Cousins and Mooney faced off six times in the NFC South, with Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings going 5-1 over the Bears during Mooney's tenure.

Naturally, Cousins peripherally saw Mooney from the sideline, but he wasn't innately familiar with the skill set Mooney provided. Yet Cousins threw Mooney a recruiting pitch this spring, one centered around the chance to win.

Mooney bought in -- and he impressed Cousins within their first month working together.

"When we got here together in OTAs, you could see movement skills where I've been able to play long enough and built up an understanding and a sample size to know what it should look like," Cousins said. "When I saw Darnell running, it was, 'Okay, this looks like it should look.'"

Robinson experienced a similar realization.

During veteran minicamp in April at IBM Performance Field, the Falcons spent the first few weeks of practice installing the concepts of Robinson's offense. Such a process requires extensive teaching -- and talking -- from Robinson, which creates uncertainty about how much information players are absorbing.

Mooney left little doubt about his mental capacity.

"We went out to the grass for the first time, and Mooney was running the routes exactly how you were hoping they would come out," Robinson said. "It was very early on in veteran minicamp. You could see he was just a really good football player."

But Mooney owes at least some of his football prowess to the hardwood. Mooney has played basketball his entire life, and he feels it crosses over into football -- a lot of his releases off the line of scrimmage tap into his basketball background. Wideouts often compare release packages to crossovers.

The rest of Mooney's route running nuance comes from experience.

Generating separation stems from learning how to manipulate defensive backs into making them think one thing from film and then going the other way. It's something Mooney said has been a learning curve since high school -- after all, he spent his younger years merely outrunning opponents. Now, he's found a deeper side of the sport's intricacies.

"It's a geometry at the end of the day," Mooney said.

During his route stem -- the vertical element of the route when the receiver breaks off the line of scrimmage -- Mooney tries to take what the defense gives him. If he doesn't like the look thrown his way, he turns to manipulation.

But maximizing routes ultimately depends on timing and having chemistry with the quarterback. Understanding the detail of the play, such as how many steps the quarterback will take in his drop, is similarly important to dictating Mooney's route cadence.

Mooney and Cousins have the benefit of being locker neighbors, often sharing discussions during their off time. They talk about what routes Mooney likes, which ones he doesn't and how best to get him the ball.

Between their conversations and Mooney's work ethic -- in both the film and weight room -- Cousins has grown to trust that Mooney will do what needs to be done, be where he needs to be and ultimately make plays when called upon.

But before Cousins fully committed to trusting Mooney, he had to see separation and the ability to be win one-on-ones. Mooney put that on film. His mentality matched it.

"I think he's just very locked in," Cousins said. "Mentally, he's a pro, and so you feel like from his split to his depth to the motion to the timing to just all the specificities of playing the position, you feel like the details matter to him and the details matter to me.

"And so, I think that helps him be successful and helps me trust him."

Robinson said Mooney and Cousins have been on the same page, which traces back to the time on task they spend with each other.

After Atlanta's 26-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints in Week 4 during which the Falcons' offense failed to score a touchdown, Mooney sent Cousins a short text. The message? Headlined by a question mark.

Cousins interpreted it as Mooney asking for his thoughts. Cousins responded with one of his patented voice memos, something he thinks Mooney likes. Following the Falcons' 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5, Cousins told Mooney he'd send another voice memo.

The memo never happened -- but a film session between Cousins, Mooney, tight end Kyle Pitts and fellow receivers Drake London and Ray-Ray McCloud III did. Cousins said it was a helpful time to talk through things, and the chemistry gained in those meetings has translated into games at times.

"Usually when you have good, candid conversations with guys, I think it oftentimes leads to us playing better, even if maybe somebody doesn't hear what they want to hear," Cousins said. "Usually just that candid conversation allows guys to really feel like we're on the same page. So that's been good."

Mooney specializes in being candid. He's unafraid to speak his mind -- he'll tell Robinson if his install meetings are boring, and if he doesn't say it, his face will show it.

Robinson noted it comes from a good place. In London's eyes, instances like those are merely who Mooney is.

"Mooney's Mooney," London said. "He's not going to change for anybody. He don't care who you are. He's going to say how it is. That's just who he is, and we love him for that."

Mooney's messages can be, at times, jokes in a playful manner. In other moments, he's deadpanned. Regardless of his delivery, there's a point to everything he says -- a hidden message, London said, that is often well-received.

Nobody looks at Mooney negatively. Perhaps it's because he's earned the benefit of the doubt -- and is more than willing to take any constructive criticism thrown back his way.

"He's a pro's pro," Robinson said. "He prepares the right way. He understands the intent of the plays. I think you can tell him one time and say, 'Hey, I think this is how you should run it. Here's the framework of it. Now you go make it your own.' So, that's what's been cool.

"He is a very, very smart player, very intentional with everything he does, and it's showing up."

Mooney is on pace for a season similar to -- if not better than in some aspects -- his 2021 season, during which he caught 81 passes for 1,055 yards. He's already caught more touchdowns (five) than the four he secured in 2021, and he's averaging a career-high 64.6 receiving yards per game.

With 48 catches for 711 yards, Mooney has cemented himself not just as a No. 2 receiver, but a strong complement to London -- so much that Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton referred to them as a 1A, 1B tandem.

Yet Cousins thinks Mooney's production could be even better.

"I think he's played great, but I think there's more to go get, and that's not on him," Cousins said. "It's more on us as a team or me as a quarterback to give him those opportunities. But love what he's done for us."

What, exactly, do the Falcons enjoy about Mooney? Head coach Raheem Morris said it may be easier to say what he doesn't.

"But I'm liking all the things that we thought we can get," Morris said. "The separator, the man-to-man winner, the route runner, the intelligence, the smart human, the cerebral kind of leader in that room."

Mooney uses his mind and athleticism to win on the field, but his voice has become an important factor in Atlanta's player-led culture.

***

As they left the locker room and headed to practice, Mooney asked Cousins if he knew the date.

"I don't know. It's October 23," Cousins said.

"Wednesday, October 23, 2024. We're never going to get this day again," Mooney responded.

The Falcons were three days removed from a 34-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. After a performance Morris described as flat, Atlanta needed life.

Mooney brought it.

"He was just positive, sunshine and rainbows going into practice," Cousins said. "So I was like, 'I like this.' He was ready to go, and there was a little bit of that -- just, 'Hey, let's go and treat this as an important day.' And one on one, let's go do the best we can today."

Perhaps positivity isn't the image one gets when first thinking about Mooney's off-field persona, especially his pointedness in meetings and discussions with Cousins and the rest of the offensive staff.

But dig deeper, and Mooney's positive body language shows up frequently on the field.

"Sometimes he comes out there and he's got a ton of energy, and he's a pretty low-key guy, but you can definitely feel when he's got the vibe going," Robinson said. "On game day, it seems like he's always got it. He plays with great enthusiasm and watching him celebrate after the catch gets everybody excited."

The 27-year-old Mooney blends positivity and nuance with what Morris dubbed a "too cool for school" attitude in meetings. But no matter how he appears, Mooney soaks in everything. He leaves the meeting room knowing the precise details of Atlanta's game plan from a holistic standpoint.

Morris said after Week 5 he saw similarities between Mooney and Rams receiver Cooper Kupp due to his ability to have conversations with Robinson and receivers coach Ike Hilliard. Both Mooney and Kupp are thorough thinkers with layered ideas to playing receiver.

"It’s elite company," Morris said.

Mooney's mind and how he thinks about football resembles that of a quarterback, Morris said. Sometimes, Mooney plays the game like a quarterback, too.

The Falcons make pressure calls if they sense pressure. In particular, Cousins and the offensive line are often responsible for calling out the pressure. Occasionally, a running back makes the call.

Never a receiver.

Until Mooney.

"He said, 'What's the term? I want to know it.' If he sees pressure, he makes it," Cousins said. "I said to (left tackle) Jake Matthews, 'Have you ever had a receiver who wants to know if there's pressure to help the O-Line and make the pressure call?' He said, 'That's a first.' I said, 'That's a first for me, too.'

"So, it reflects his level of intelligence, his high capacity, his desire to serve his teammates. If he can help, he wants to know how he can help."

There have been other instances, Cousins said, where Mooney aids with situational awareness. He'll remind Cousins in the huddle how many timeouts the Falcons have, or point out the game clock, or dissect the defense's coverage on the play before.

It's a level of communication Cousins has never previously had from a receiver.

"I feel like I'm talking to my offensive coordinator sometimes, and I'm just talking to Mooney," Cousins said. "So that's fun. And you wonder, like, how far can we take that? Can we build on that? Again, a little bit in Year 1, you're just trying to go execute.

"But as you play together longer, you start to say, 'Boy, if he's got this much capacity, I wonder what we could do down the road as we build this.'"

Mooney pairs an understanding of what he's seeing with a willingness to talk about it. The Falcons consider London to be the emotional leader of the receiver room, but Mooney is the cerebral leader.

Together, they've formed perhaps the NFL's best receiving duo. They're the only two teammates inside the top 10 in receiving yards, a feat they've accomplished in complementary fashion.

London ranks tied for seventh league-wide with 61 catches. Mooney, meanwhile, is tied for 21st with 48 grabs, but he's made 16 receptions of 20-plus yards, the second-most in the NFL.

And as the 23-year-old London continues to grow, he's pleased to have a mentor like Mooney at his disposal.

"Mooney is very, very sharp when it comes to football," London said. "He sees a lot of stuff, and he's a very, very good route runner. To have that and also pair that with the mental side is very dangerous, and he's brought that even more to this team. He keeps on doing his thing, I'm going to be happy."

Through the Falcons' first 11 games, Mooney has eclipsed 85 receiving yards five times. He reached that feat only once during his previous two years.

Personal success aside, Mooney and Cousins are accomplishing exactly as they'd set out to do since agreeing to their contracts on back-to-back days in mid-March: winning games. Atlanta is 6-5 and will carry the NFC South lead into December with hopes of snapping a six-year playoff drought.

Despite entering their bye week on the heels of a 38-6 loss to the Broncos, Morris said the Falcons still have everything they want to accomplish in front of them.

Cousins thinks Mooney will be an integral part to maximizing Atlanta's potential. In Week 9 and 10 games against the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, Mooney often separated, and when he didn't, he made big plays against tight coverage.

In a voice memo before the Denver game, Cousins told Mooney the Falcons need more of that. And Mooney, as he's done since arriving at Tulane as an overlooked recruit, since falling in the draft due to his size and since joining the Falcons after two down seasons in Chicago, appears poised to rise to the occasion.

"He's ready to answer that challenge," Cousins said.