After spending the eighth overall pick on a wide receiver, the Falcons expect Drake London to become a playmaker in their offense for years to come. While it’s still early as padded practices begin, the USC product is drawing rave reviews so far in Flowery Branch.
Fans at camp and on social media were treated to highlights of London going up and over Dee Alford in a 1-on-1 drill and another as he turned Mike Ford around for a wide-open touchdown in a 7-on-7 period. The voice of the Falcons, Wes Durham, was on hand at practice, and speaking with the Midday Show on 92.9 The Game, he shared his early impressions of the young wideout.
“He’s got real size, he’s got NFL size. That’s the thing you see about Drake London. It’s a real 6-5 and it’s a real 215…He is a physical somebody now, he doesn’t mind the contact. And you can see the basketball athleticism that cat has,” Durham said referencing London’s days in AAU leagues and as a freshman with the USC basketball team.
Newly acquired CB Casey Hayward praised the rookie wide receiver as well, telling Andy & Randy that his ability on 50-50 balls and as a route runner have impressed him so far.
While it remains to be seen who will be under center for the Falcons in week one, London will likely be a top target for either Marcus Mariota or Desmond Ridder, but Durham isn’t going to tie the first-round pick’s impact on the offense to stats after watching Kyle Pitts a season ago.
"If you would’ve told me Kyle Pitts only had one touchdown last year, you could’ve taken a mortgage payment. I thought he’d have five or six, especially with the way the red zone situation was, it just didn’t happen. I'm not going to set an expectation of London to say he’s got to have 60 catches, 10 scores, 1,000 yards…That part of the game, I don’t think we can project because we don’t know what the offensive line looks like, we don’t know what the migration of the quarterbacks is going to look like,” Durham said before referencing the importance of the running game as well.
London is showing no lingering effects from the broken ankle he suffered during his final year at Southern Cal after amassing 1,084 yards and 88 catches with seven touchdowns in just eight games.
