Who won Bears wideout battle between Darnell Mooney, Marquise Goodwin, and the field

Though the Chicago Bears never had any doubt as to which player would serve as their No. 1 wideout in 2021 – Allen Robinson — the complexion of the rest of their receiving corps had less certainty. The team liked what Darnell Mooney provided as a rookie the year before and added veteran speedster Marquise Goodwin to the mix, but neither entered camp with their roles locked into place.

With the Bears trimming down the roster to its regular-season limit of 53, it has become clearer as to which roles the wideouts will hold during the upcoming season and whether anyone else on the depth chart might eat into their workshare.

Verdict

Darnell Mooney consistently impressed the Bears’ coaching staff and media onlookers during training camp. The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain singled out Mooney for praise in late August, picking the second-year wideout as Chicago’s most impressive player on offense. “Getting to watch the ‘second-year jump’ from Mooney this summer has backed up what the coaches have said,” Fishbain said. “We know about the breakaway speed, his route running is crisper.”

After Robinson, Mooney should see the most targets amount the Bears’ wide receivers.

Fantasy football implications

Mooney doesn’t offer a ton of early upside in fantasy, though that says more about the quarterback the Bears will start Week 1 than anything else. Once Justin Fields supplants Andy Dalton, Mooney should garner flex consideration. Meanwhile, Goodwin seems like an afterthought for fantasy purposes, at least with the other wideouts healthy.