FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta was a significant player in free agency earlier this year. Most notably, landing quarterback Kirk Cousins, but Cousins himself will tell you that the addition of wide receiver Darnell Mooney, perhaps underrated at the time, is paying major dividends for the 6-4 Falcons.

Through 10 weeks, Mooney ranks sixth in the NFL in receiving yards (684) and eighth in both targets (77) and touchdowns (5). Mooney and Drake London are the only teammates with at least 600 yards and five touchdowns and the only duo to rank in the top 10 in receiving yards. He is delivering on the promise he showed early in his career, and the former fifth-round pick has clearly found a role within a Falcons offense noted for the first-round pedigree of its skill position players.

Mooney was taken with the 28th pick in the fifth round (173rd overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears after establishing himself as a big-play threat in four seasons at Tulane. He entered the NFL with elite speed, running a 4.38 40-yard dash and a 7.03 Relative Athletic Score, according to Kent Lee Platte. He began his career with a solid rookie season, catching 61 passes for 631 yards and four touchdowns. Mooney followed that with a breakout sophomore campaign, catching 81 passes for 1,055 yards and four scores, but inconsistent quarterback play and a coaching change saw Mooney struggle to regain his early form over the next two seasons.

The fresh start has Mooney playing the best football of his career, on pace to match or eclipse his career highs across the board.

Much of that success has been a result of the connection he has built with Cousins. The duo ranks third among QB-WR combos in total expected points added this season (34.8), trailing only Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin (39.9) and Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase (39.3). Cousins has a 103.8 passer rating when targeting Mooney and the duo has generated 0.45 EPA per target through 10 games.

Mooney and Cousins' connection on the field was built during the offseason as the two tried to maximize their time together to make up for what Cousins termed a "lack of banked reps." Their work together extended beyond the grass, whether it be in the locker room, where Mooney and Cousins are neighbors or in the meeting rooms or meal room. Building that connection has been a key piece of their success.

"It's been constant dialogue, constant reps, learning the routes he likes, what he doesn't like, how I can best get him the football," said Cousins. "I think having a locker next to him creates good dialogue in your off-time. But he's a pro. He works hard at it, takes care of himself and I just have a lot of trust that he's going to do what needs to be done. He's going to be where he needs to be, and he's ultimately going to make plays."

One area where the trust between Mooney and Cousins has shown up clearly is in "got to have it" situations like third and fourth down. Mooney has 16 catches and 225 yards on third and fourth down and he has converted 15 of those plays into first downs. He's tied for sixth in receptions, fifth in yards and third in first downs in those critical situations compared to other receivers across the league. Mooney's 55.6% success rate when targeted on third and fourth down ranks ninth in the NFL this season (among players with at least 20 targets).

Perhaps the most telling sign of that trust is the fact that Mooney is tied with Drake London, George Kittle and Quentin Johnson for the league-lead with four touchdown catches on third or fourth down. This is also a good reminder that Mooney is doing all of this while sharing the field with London, who is also on the cusp of a career year.

London has slightly edged Mooney in target share — 25.5% to 22.2% — but Mooney has a slim advantage on third and fourth down at 25.7% to 25.5%. That both players are having successful seasons speaks to how the team envisioned using them and how their differing skillsets have been deployed.

"Both guys, first and foremost, are very smart football players, very unselfish, willing to do whatever it takes to win the game," offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said in his recent said in press conference. "The complement that they have, their skillsets match up so well to complement each other... there's a lot of options with those guys."

Mooney's speed has been a hallmark since he was breaking big plays at Tulane, but the veteran savvy that he has added to his arsenal over the course of his NFL career and has made him even more difficult to defend. According to Next Gen Stats, Mooney averages 2.8 yards of separation per target and 32.1% of his targets are classified as open, meaning he has three or more yards of separation when the pass arrives. On those open targets, Mooney averages six yards of separation.

His speed has contributed to his success in the intermediate and deep passing game, too. According to Next Gen Stats, Mooney ranks eighth in target EPA (25.5) and passer rating (110.2), third in yards (545) and tied for third in touchdowns (4) on throws of more than 10 air yards. Mooney ranks second in the league with 357 yards on intermediate passes, throws between 10 and 19 air yards. He has also caught seven of 12 targets for 188 yards and two touchdowns on passes of 20+ air yards.

One of his most impressive traits is that he is not a one-trick pony. Mooney isn't just running go routes down the sideline to rack up his stats. He has run nearly every route in the tree and has been successful on a wide variety of routes, notching at least 95 yards on go routes, corners, hitches, out routes, crossing routes and posts. He truly has been deployed all over the field.

While Mooney has shown he is capable of this type of production before, his arrival in Atlanta has seen him level up his game. Both he and Cousins know they aren't done yet and have more in the tank.

"How far can we take that?" Cousins asked. "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.'"

The future is bright

Atlanta has no shortage of weapons on offense. The wide receiver duo of Mooney and London have been one opposing defenses have struggled to contain, especially in explosives. Kyle Pitts ranks in the top-5 in receiving amongst tight ends, recording the fifth-most yards among his group, along with averaging 14.3 yards per catch, the second-highest output in the NFL entering Week 11. Atlanta leads the league in rushes of four-or-more yards on first down and in overall percentage of rushes gaining four-or-more yards.

The pass game is one that many closely monitor, however the run game is one that has really taken off, thanks to Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson. Both present problems on the ground and have each been extremely productive this season, despite splitting carries.

Both Allgeier (13) and Robinson (14) have each recorded at least 10 runs of 10-plus yards this season. Robinson has recorded 70 runs of at least five yards, the second-most in the NFL behind Derrick Henry, according to TruMedia. The duo has also recorded the fourth (Robinson, 44.8%) and ninth (Allgeier, 40.4%) highest success rates on carries outside the tackles among running backs with at least 50 such carries, according to Next Gen Stats. They are one of two running back duos (Detroit) with two running backs to rank in the top 10 in such runs.

Expectations have been high for the 2023 NFL Draft eighth overall pick in Robinson since he entered the league, and each week, he continues to show why Atlanta chose him at that spot. Let's take a deeper look into the season Robinson has had so far, as he continues to showcase the future of the running back position: a multi-threat athlete.

Last season, Robinson gave everyone a taste of what he could be as a running back in this league. In 17 games, he led all rookies with 976 rushing yards while adding 487 receiving yards and eight total touchdowns (four rushing, four receiving). With 1,463 yards from scrimmage, the rookie back surpassed William Andrews (1,332) to set the rookie record for most yards from scrimmage. He also set the franchise record for most receptions by a rookie running back with 58 on the season. A strong year for a rookie should mean that it can only go up from there, right? And it has.

Many were hoping to see Robinson step up even more this season, which is evident in the production he's had through 10 games played. He has the fifth-most rushing yards in the NFL with 748 on the season and ranks sixth in yards after contact with 518. In the pass game, Robinson has tallied the third-most receptions (41) for the fourth-most receiving yards (331) in the NFL among running backs.

On the ground, he's posted 748 yards on 155 carries this season. With 331 yards receiving, he joins Alvin Kamara as the only two running backs in the league with at least 700 yards on the ground and at least 300 yards through the air. His 410 yards after the catch is the third-most in the NFL among any player at any position.

Robinson is already on his way to another career year with what he's produced so far this season for the club, even with less touches in the backfield. So far this season, he has already surpassed his rushing touchdown total from 2023, totaling six through 10 games played, including a few multi-touchdown games.

His ability to affect both the run and pass game has not gone unnoticed.

He is one of three running backs (Kamara and De'Von Achane) in the NFL to record at least 100 carries and 40 receptions this season. With 1,079 scrimmage yards through 10 games, Robinson is the first Atlanta running back to total over 1,000 scrimmage yards in the first 10 games of a season since Devonta Freeman in 2015. He is also one of three players to have totaled at least 100 yards from scrimmage seven times this season (Saquon Barkley and Kamara) and holds the longest active streak in the NFL with five consecutive games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage.

Robinson has the highest rush success rate (48.4%) for running backs with at least 150 carries this season, according to Next Gen Stats, ahead of running backs such as Kyren Williams and Henry, who don't necessarily have a second back that touches the ball nearly as much as they do.

Not only does he produce a high success rate in general in the run, he also has an uncanny ability to cause defenders to miss him completely, forcing the fifth-highest missed tackle percentage (32.5%) among running backs with a minimum of 100 carries this season, according to Next Gen Stats. His 50 missed tackles forced are the fourth-most in the league, and he is the only player in the top five of missed tackles forced that has not recorded a fumble this season. Even in carries directed outside of the tackles, Robinson has forced the third-most missed tackles (40), behind Jordan Mason (44) and Henry (42).

On top of his dynamic abilities through the air and on the ground, this season you've seen him be involved in pass protection. Zac Robinson said that Robinson has been instrumental in high-pressure situations, helping to make it easier for Kirk Cousins in the pocket.

"Bijan has really stepped up to the plate and given us extra little click that Kirk Cousins needs in the pocket whenever we do get in those pressure situations," Zac Robinson said. "You throw on last year's tape, and seeing the progress that he's made has been really cool. And he's such a team guy. He just wants to do whatever he can for the team in those situations."

The sky is clearly the limit for this dynamic back as he continues to be a key piece to this offense. As Zac Robinson mentioned, the second-year running back will do everything he can for the team in any situation, and it doesn't look like that's stopping any time soon. As new levels continue to be unlocked for this dynamic threat, it'll be fun to watch what else he can add to his already impressive resume.