The 2021 NFL season may barely be in the books, but Dave Richard is already getting a jump on his 2022 preparation by highlighting at least one key statistic to know for each NFL team that had a major bearing on their 2021 performance and could mean a great deal for their 2022 outlook. In this space, Dave dives into the Chicago Bears.
More Early Prep (AFC): BAL | BUF | CIN | CLE | DEN | TEN | HOU | IND | JAC | KC | LAC | LV | MIA | NE | NYJ
More Early Prep (NFC): ARI | ATL | CAR | CHI | DAL | DET | GB | LAR | MIN | SEA | NYG | WAS | PHI | NO | TB | SF
Chicago Bears stats to know
Darnell Mooney's 2021 target share:
- 24.9% from Justin Fields
- 25.7% from Nick Foles
- 29.1% from Andy Dalton
- 26.7% overall (sixth-highest among wide receivers)
This is exactly what you want to see, but is it replicable? Mooney may have been force-fed targets by last year's coaching staff, and his lowest (but still strong) target share came from the Bears' 2022 starter. It's also worth noting that Mooney's lowest catch rate from last year came from Fields (53.8%) and that Mooney had 15-plus PPR points in only three of nine games Fields started and finished. There's plenty of room for improvement for Mooney on throws from Fields, and there's also plenty of room for a let-down if the Bears new coaching staff replenishes its receiving corps.
Mooney will be viewed as a potential breakout candidate in 2022 as will several players from the 2021 rookie draft class. But which ones will actually live up to the hype? The Fantasy Football Today team dove deep into the 2021 WR rookie class and what their outlooks look like for 2022:
Where Mooney will be drafted will depend largely on how the Bears attack the offseason at the wide receiver position both via free agency and the draft. Although the expectation is they will lose Allen Robinson, they could be aggressive in replacing him with multiple receivers who can carve into Mooney's target share.
