2020 NFL Draft: 3 late-round wide receivers 49ers should target
By Peter Panacy
. Wide Receiver. Green Wave . Darnell Mooney. 3. player. 2115
Sheer size has never been a top priority for Kyle Shanahan at wide receiver. In 2017, Shanahan’s wideouts were the shortest combined out of all 32 teams, and only Jalen Hurd possesses that big-body stature most other teams covet.
At 5-foot-11 and 175 pounds, Tulane’s Darnell Mooney epitomizes that short stature many of Shanahan’s preferred receivers often have.
Smaller wide receivers need to win in other ways, be they with speed, shiftiness, elusiveness or separation skills. Mooney has those kinds of traits, which allowed him to be notably productive over his final two collegiate years at Tulane:
| Receiving | Rushing | Scrimmage | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2016 | Tulane | American | FR | WR | 9 | 24 | 267 | 11.1 | 2 | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 0 | 28 | 289 | 10.3 | 2 |
| 2017 | Tulane | American | SO | WR | 11 | 34 | 599 | 17.6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 599 | 17.6 | 4 | |
| *2018 | Tulane | American | JR | WR | 13 | 48 | 993 | 20.7 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 49 | 999 | 20.4 | 8 |
| *2019 | Tulane | American | SR | WR | 13 | 48 | 713 | 14.9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 713 | 14.9 | 5 | |
| Career | Tulane | 154 | 2572 | 16.7 | 19 | 5 | 28 | 5.6 | 0 | 159 | 2600 | 16.4 | 19 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 2/21/2020.
Granted, Mooney will have to add some bulk to his frame to compete better at the pro level. But his frame suggests this is possible.
Shanahan doesn’t utilize the traditional boundary receiver format with an undersized slot, rather his wide receivers rotate all over the field and run unorthodox routes. And with Trent Taylor banged up the better part of the last two years, it would be foolish to think the 49ers completely avoid the thought of replacing Taylor this offseason.
Especially if a player like Mooney winds up being a sixth- or seventh-round flier selection.