Drake London - Fantasy Points Outlook

What You Need to Know:

• This 6’4, 219-pounder was a standout football and basketball player in high school.
• He turned in 3 productive seasons at USC.
  • London posted a 39-567-5 line as a true freshman, finishing 4th on the team in all 3 categories behind senior Michael Pittman, sophomore Amon-Ra St. Brown and junior Tyler Vaughns.
  • His per-game numbers spiked in a COVID-shortened, 6-game 2020 season: 5.5 catches, 84 yards and .5 TDs per game. London beat both St. Brown and Vaughn in receiving yards.
  • London exploded as USC’s alpha last year, averaging 11 catches, 136 yards and .9 TDs across 8 outings. He ranked 1st in the nation in catches per game and 2nd in receiving yards per game. London accounted for 40.2% of USC’s receptions, 43.0% of the receiving yards and 41.2% of the receiving TDs. He ranked 1st among draft-eligible WRs in Pro Football Focus’ receiving grades. And his 3.52 yards per route run was good for 5th among 200 WRs with 50+ targets.
• London’s 2021 campaign ended when he broke his right ankle on October 30. That prevented him from working out at the Combine, although he did some on-field drills at his April 15 Pro Day
• The Falcons made London the 1st WR off the board in this spring’s draft, selecting him 8th overall.
  • He’s 1 of just 5 WRs over the last 5 drafts to get top-10 draft capital, joining Ja’Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith and Garrett Wilson.
• London joins a barren Falcons WR group.
  • Russell Gage, who led Atlanta WRs with 94 targets (16.4%) last year, signed with the Bucs in free agency.
  • No other Falcons WR topped 53 targets last season.
  • Olamide Zaccheaus and Frank Darby return from last year’s team.
  • The additions Atlanta made to the position: Bryan Edwards, Damiere Byrd, Auden Tate, Khadarel Hodge, Geronimo Allison, Cameron Batson. None of those guys has topped 604 yards in an NFL season.
• TE Kyle Pitts and RB Cordarrell Patterson return after finishing 1st and 3rd on the team in targets last year, accounting for 31.2% of the total.
• HC Arthur Smith returns for his 2nd season in Atlanta. The 2021 Falcons ranked:
  • 29th in total yards
  • 26th in points
  • 19th in pass attempts
  • 16th in pass yards
  • 25th in pass TDs
• The Falcons traded QB Matt Ryan to the Colts in March. They signed QB Marcus Mariota in free agency and then grabbed QB Desmond Ridder in Round 3 of this year’s draft.
  • Mariota was decent across 5 seasons with the Titans, posting a 62.9% completion rate and 7.5 yards per attempt. He spent the past 2 years backing up Derek Carr in Vegas.
  • Ridder started 49 games at Cincinnati and is lauded for his football IQ. But he has average arm strength and inconsistent accuracy.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

Atlanta’s passing game – and offense in general – figures to struggle this year with some combination of Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder under center.

But volume trumps all in fantasy football. London has the talent and situation to claim a big volume this season. He was the 8th overall pick of the draft after an impressive college season. And he faces very little target competition beyond TE Kyle Pitts and RB Cordarrelle Patterson.

Consider the rookie an intriguing WR3 target in fantasy drafts.