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If Drake London sits, start Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud

If Drake London sits, start Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud

DraftKings Fantasy Advice DFS NFL

Updated:

By: Zach Thompson

The Falcons beat the Cowboys in Week 9 and are atop the NFC South at 6-3. They did suffer a potential loss, though, since Drake London ($6,700) left the game with an injury. If he’s forced to miss time, both Darnell Mooney ($6,500) and Ray-Ray McCloud III ($4,300) would be excellent fantasy football options in Week 10 vs. the Saints and for however long London is out.

The latest on London

The good news for the Falcons and their fans is that it doesn’t look like London’s issue is a major one. Coach Raheem Morris offered clarity on the situation on Monday:

Even if it is not a long-term concern, though, it will still have a major impact if London is sidelined.

So far this season, London has a team-high 70 targets and a 25% target share. He has 35% of the WR touchdowns and scored his sixth touchdown of the season on a nine-yard strike on which he was hurt.

Darnell Mooney’s major upside

Mooney has gotten almost as many targets as London this year, and he’ll become the team’s top receiver if London is limited or out for any weeks.

He drips with big-play potential has showcased improved route-running and breakaway ability all season. Here’s a look at some of his routes:

After London left against Dallas, Mooney stepped up as the team’s top receiver and finished with five catches on nine targets and this touchdown:

It gave him five on the year to go with a solid average of 65.3 yards per game on 4.6 catches per contest.

Mooney is still on waiver wires in some season-long leagues, but he’ll be a WR2 with a lot of WR1 potential in Week 10 if London is out.

Ray-Ray McCloud’s potential breakout

McCloud is another Falcons’ receiver who makes fantasy football sense if London is out, and he’s on waiver wire in over 80% of leagues.

He had his first touchdown of the season on Sunday against Dallas and has grown into a well-established role as the team’s third WR.

If London is out, he’ll probably get enough looks to be a good streaming option in a flex play in Week 10. He has plenty of big-play potential and has caught multiple passes in every game so far in 2024. He also has a carry in three of the last four weeks as well, giving him some extra upside as a dual-threat receiver.

McCloud is worth stashing off the waiver wire in deep leagues even as the team’s No. 3 WR since the Falcons passing game has been so effective lately.

Other Falcons affected

If London does miss time, it could also increase the workload of TE Kyle Pitts ($4,800) and RB Bijan Robinson ($7,700) as pass-catchers. Robinson caught a season-high seven passes in each of his last two games and has over 20 DraftKings points in each of his last four games. He will be an elite play in Week 19 vs. the Saints regardless of London’s availability and is worth considering as a pay-up play in DFS.

Pitts has been very inconsistent this season as demonstrated by his 25.1 fantasy points followed by 2.1 fantasy points in the last two weeks. More targets coming his direction would help cement him in the top 10 and raise his floor a little as well.

The Bottom Line

The Saints have been an excellent matchup for wide receivers over the last few weeks. Opposing WRs have scored five touchdowns against them in the last three weeks and racked up over 200 yards in two of those contests. The Falcons WR beat them up for 172 yards in Week 4 but didn’t find the end zone.

If London is out this week, the matchup is good enough to boost both Mooney and McCloud to fantasy relevance. In DFS contests, like the NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st], McCloud could be an elite value play while Mooney as WR1 potential at a WR2 salary.

The Falcons begin the week as 3.5-point road favorites in this divisional matchup with the over/under set at 47.5.

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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

Zach Thompson
Zach has been part of the DraftKings team since 2017 and covers baseball, basketball, golf, football and any other sport that offers DFS fun. He has been playing fantasy sports since box scores were only available in the newspaper the following day. Even though he grew up almost 8,000 miles away in Guam, he is a diehard Boston sports fan but will take a fantasy value play wherever he can get it, even if it’s from the Yankees.
Disclaimer

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.