Chicago Bears Draft: 3 players immediately boosted by Justin Fields

Justin Fields makes Darnell Mooney a scary sophomore breakout candidate

As a fifth-round pick that hardly any Bears fans had heard of, Darnell Mooney came to the Bears and made his impact known immediately. Mooney took time away from Anthony Miller in a matter of just a few weeks and then proceeded to have a rookie season nobody saw coming.

The Tulane product caught 61 passes for 631 yards and four scores. But, what you don’t see in those numbers is just how good he was in the open field.

When catching passes from maybe the worst quarterback room in the NFL, Mooney did much of the work himself. When he got his hands on the ball, Mooney instantly thought “end zone.”

He wasn’t just a deep threat, as many want you to believe. This guy is a threat after the catch. He can get upfield in a hurry and force opposing defenders to miss regularly.

Going back to the quarterback room in Chicago, Mooney suffered from some highly inaccurate throws. Depending on the stat outlet you trust, Mooney’s quarterback rating when targeted was anywhere from 76.0 to 85.0. Between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, Mooney had some wildly inaccurate throws. It didn’t help that neither Foles nor Trubisky could regularly toss a good-looking deep ball.

Going into his sophomore year, having one year under his belt and being accustomed to the offense, he now has a much more accurate quarterback throwing to him in Fields. Get ready for a Darnell Mooney breakout in 2021.