Day 3 Prospect To Watch

Darnell Mooney, WR, Tulane

I had Mooney on my list of Day 3 wide receivers that fit Jason Licht’s “type” back in a Combine week article on the position group, so I wasn’t surprised to see the news that he’d had a private workout with the Bucs before the COVID-19 outbreak.

#Tulane WR Darnell Mooney was able to get in a private workout with the #Buccaneers prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

He’s also held pre-draft FaceTime sessions with roughly 28 other NFL teams.

Mooney is a good route runner with legit 4.3 speed.

— Justin M (@JustinM_NFL) April 6, 2020

Mooney is much smaller than most of the Bucs receiver, but at the range of the draft he’ll be selected (late Day 3), speed and leaping ability trump size for Licht and Arians. Think Scotty Miller and J.J. Nelson, an Arians and Steve Keim pick when the coach was in Arizona.

At 5-10, 176 pounds, Mooney ran 4.38 and jumped 37 inches at the Combine, raw numbers that should fit the Bucs offense. On tape, Mooney is a speedster with good separation quickness and surprising ability to play above-the-rim for a small receiver. His thin frame and lack of length will have a hard time winning in contested spots at the next level, but the want-to, ball-tracking and leaping ability are there to go get ball outside his frame.

Inconsistent hands and inability to work over press may limit Mooney to a backup slot receiver role, at least until he improves as a route runner. Most of his patterns are ad-libbed and not very crisp right now, but the quickness to separate is there. Mooney is raw and shouldn’t be relied upon to play early, unless he’s able to surprise on special teams. Still, he’s the type of weapon the Bucs have tried to stock up on during day three of the draft, so don’t be surprised if he’s a late round target.

Falcons Jersey Fail

My thoughts on the Bucs new jerseys were included in Pewter Report’s Roundtable opinions on the new uniform kits, which dropped on Tuesday. The Atlanta Falcons decided to drop their jerseys the next day, but to much less applause.

I like the black-on-black and white-on-white, along with the accent colors, but why in the world would you choose that typeface and font size of jersey numbers? That looks completely ridiculous. Also, the “ATL” across the chest? In that font size? Come on. Did y’all think we were gonna forget where y’all are from?

Brutal. These decisions shouldn’t be this hard. Yes, I’m a little bit a uniform snob, but this is rough. As Scott Reynolds said on Twitter, Bucs are already one up on the Falcons this year.

#Bucs are already 1-0 in the NFC South with a big, early win over the #Falcons in 2020. https://t.co/yEnlpYOrzr

— PewterReport (@PewterReport) April 8, 2020