Darnell Mooney went in round No. 5 at No. 173 to the Bears becoming the highest Wave pick since Lorenzo Doss went No. 164 in 2015. It is the fourth straight year a Tulane player has been drafted, a streak that had not happened since 1999-2002.
Mooney, the last player to arrive in Willie Fritz's first recruiting class, turned into the best player of the group and made an impression right away despite missing all of the summer that first year before arriving for the start of preseason drills.
After finishing his Tulane career with 151 catches (11th most in school history), 2,529 yards (6th most) and 19 TDs (tied for 8th most), he still was considered a draft long shot because of his slight build (5-11, 175) until he ran a 4.38 at the NFL combine, the fifth fastest time among all the wideouts there. His body of work on video became important after he wowed them with his speed, and they noticed he made a lot of big catches in traffic. He also dropped a few too many passes during his time at Tulane, an issue that developed right after he told me in an interview that he never had dropped a pass in a game.
ESPN draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, though calling him "Darrell Mooney" on air, was very complimentary, saying this: "You can play him inside, you can play him outside, he is ultra-twitched up." He added he got the best of Auburn first-round draft pick CB Noah Igbinoghene in September and compared him to veteran NFL wideout Travis Benjamin, who has 208 career receptions and 19 TDs. Both of them are around 175 pounds.
Mooney, the last player to arrive in Willie Fritz's first recruiting class, turned into the best player of the group and made an impression right away despite missing all of the summer that first year before arriving for the start of preseason drills.
After finishing his Tulane career with 151 catches (11th most in school history), 2,529 yards (6th most) and 19 TDs (tied for 8th most), he still was considered a draft long shot because of his slight build (5-11, 175) until he ran a 4.38 at the NFL combine, the fifth fastest time among all the wideouts there. His body of work on video became important after he wowed them with his speed, and they noticed he made a lot of big catches in traffic. He also dropped a few too many passes during his time at Tulane, an issue that developed right after he told me in an interview that he never had dropped a pass in a game.
ESPN draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, though calling him "Darrell Mooney" on air, was very complimentary, saying this: "You can play him inside, you can play him outside, he is ultra-twitched up." He added he got the best of Auburn first-round draft pick CB Noah Igbinoghene in September and compared him to veteran NFL wideout Travis Benjamin, who has 208 career receptions and 19 TDs. Both of them are around 175 pounds.