Chicago Bears: 5 Bold predictions for Week 7 vs. Rams

3. Mooney breaks out

Rookie wide receiver Darnell Mooney is quickly becoming a steal for the Chicago Bears. He was the 24th wide receiver picked in this year’s draft, yet he appears in the top 10 on a number of categories among rookie receivers. Those are catches (18, fifth), yards (196, seventh) and passer rating when targeted (90.4, ninth).

Mooney is starting to gain Foles’ confidence. Also, he has head coach Matt Nagy’s confidence. In fact, he is playing in more snaps than Anthony Miller, the receiver who was supposed the be the second-most dependable receiver on the offense.

For the season, Miller has played on 213 snaps. Mooney, on the other hand, has played on 242 snaps. Additionally, Miller received 26 targets (12 in the past three weeks) while Mooney has 30 (19 in the last three weeks).

Foles is still trying to get on the same page with Mooney. In the game against the Bucs, there were a couple of times he threw the ball a little high and in one case he had Mooney wide open on a deep ball but he ran it straight ahead instead of turning his head and finding the ball a little closer to the sideline. If he hit that pass, the Bears win in an easier fashion.

Mooney could make that deep catch this week. After another week of working with Foles, they could start something special and Mooney could be that dependable second option with blazing speed at wide receiver that the Bears desperately need.

Prediction: Mooney has five catches and leads Bears receivers with 86 yards.