The Atlanta Falcons will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR Darnell Mooney.
Is Darnell Mooney Playing in Week 8?
Mooney is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Falcons’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Darnell Mooney in Week 8?
Mooney put together a strong stat line in Week 5 against these Bucs (9-105-2), and it could have been far better if not for a bad drop that looked like it was going to cost Atlanta the game. Cousins was throwing the ball all over the yard that night, and 29.6% of his targets went in Mooney’s direction; the matchup data alone gives him Flex appeal in the rematch.
I haven’t loved what I’ve seen from Mooney over the past two weeks (his yards per route are down 27.9% from the first five weeks), but he’s been on the field for over 87% of Atlanta’s offensive snaps and remains consistently involved.
The Bucs blitz at the third-highest rate in the league, and we’ve seen enough creativity from this offense to think that they can exploit that aggression. Mooney is a fringe top-30 receiver for me with a nice ceiling to complement a reasonable floor in this spot.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Darnell Mooney’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 8
Mooney is projected to score 13.5 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 4.9 receptions for 64.1 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
Darnell Mooney’s Week 8 Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.
Conference Championship WR PPR Rankings
1) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. WAS)
2) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at PHI)
3) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
4) Khalil Shakir | BUF (at KC)
5) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Hollywood Brown | KC (vs. BUF)
7) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. BUF)
8) Keon Coleman | BUF (at KC)
9) Dyami Brown | WAS (at PHI)
10) Mack Hollins | BUF (at KC)
11) Amari Cooper | BUF (at KC)
12) Curtis Samuel | BUF (at KC)
13) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at PHI)
14) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. BUF)
15) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. WAS)
16) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at PHI)
17) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at PHI)
18) Justin Watson | KC (vs. BUF)
19) Johnny Wilson | PHI (vs. WAS)
20) Parris Campbell | PHI (vs. WAS)
21) Nikko Remigio | KC (vs. BUF)
22) Ainias Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Insights
Atlanta Falcons
Team: The Falcons have the league’s worst average starting field position (their own 26.8-yard line).
QB: Is Kirk Cousins getting a hang of this system? Over the past three weeks, he’s completed 70.4% of passes when blitzed (Weeks 1-4: 46.7%).
Offense: Despite the one-sided loss to the Seahawks last week, the Falcons have improved their third down conversion rate in four straight games. In Weeks 1-3, they converted 22.2% of third downs, a rate that has improved to 46.2% since.
Defense: The Falcons (50.7%) and Panthers (55.8%) are the only teams in the league allowing points on most drives this season.
Fantasy: Drake London is starting to live up to the promise when he entered the NFL – he’s been a top 20 fantasy receiver in five of the past six weeks.
Betting: Kirk Cousins has covered five straight road games (his last three with Minnesota and his first two with Atlanta).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Team: This is Tampa Bay’s fourth home game in a six-week stretch – they go on the road for five of seven contests from Week 9-Week 16.
QB: Baker Mayfield’s fourth red zone pass of Week 7 was intercepted by Marlon Humphrey. In Weeks 1-6, he was nearly perfect inside the 20-yard line: 20-of-25 with 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Offense: The Buccaneers have scored on their opening drive in four straight games, allowing this team to play with a lead more often than not.
Defense: Tampa Bay has been outscored 44-7 in second quarters over the past two games (in the other three quarters of those games, they’ve outscored the opposition 75-24).
Fantasy: Mike Evans left Week 7 with a hamstring injury that had his status in question mid-week – he turned seven targets into 23.2 PPR fantasy points against the Falcons in their Week 5 meeting.
Betting: On short rest, Baker Mayfield is 2-3 ATS when playing on the road (5-1 ATS in such spots at home).
