2022 Prospect Profile: Drake London
Today, we’re kicking off our 2022 Prospect Profile series where we break down each prospect’s outlook for their potential rookie campaign in the NFL by going over their NFL Combine results, assessing their individual strengths and weaknesses, reviewing potential landing spots, and giving our assessment of their potential fantasy relevance in the coming season.
The first player to kick off our 2022 Prospect Profile series is Drake London, Wide Receiver, University of Southern California.
Projected Draft Spot
Early to Middle of the 1st Round
Potential Suitors
Eagles, Browns, Steelers, Falcons, Giants, Patriots
Strengths
Drake is a dual-threat athlete (he was on USC’s basketball team his freshman year) who often in college looked like a man playing against boys in coverage. He is great at creating space and finding gaps in the coverage. For a guy that size to find open spaces against coverage, he has to be a great route runner and smart at reading coverages. Drake fits both criteria.
Weaknesses
He doesn’t have blazing speed and his burst off the line could improve. He played a large majority of his snaps from the slot position in college. Whatever team drafts him, at his size, I would assume they will want to use him on the outside; a position he played at in a limited fashion in college.
Player Comparisons
Old School: (Brandon Marshall): They are very similar in size, speed, both are great at catching the ball in traffic and good at running after the catch which is rare for guys that size.
New School: (Larger Keenan Allen): One of the reasons I am so high on Drake London is I think he will be a unicorn in the NFL starting on day one. He has good hands, is tough to bring down after the catch, has the quickness to make defenders miss, and is a good run blocker. I would argue at his size there is no other player in the league that excels on all those levels.
Best Case Drafted By: (Falcons #8)
Full disclaimer, I am a Falcons fan whose team desperately needs a wide receiver and really hopes it’s London. Pairing him with Pitts and thinking of the ways Arthur Smith would use those two guys with their size and athleticism, they would basically be walking mismatches. If you haven’t already, you are probably making a joke about me choosing the Falcons as his best-case landing spot, which is fair, but I would argue they are better than the other option.
Worst Case Drafted By: (Giants #7)
I do not see London falling past the Giants and the Falcons in this draft. They are the first two teams who desperately need help at wide receiver, so barring a trade London will be a Giant or Falcon. With that being the case, with apologies to my Daily Fix co-host Joe Matz (Giants fan), being paired with Pitts and head coach Arthur Smith is better than Daniel Jones and a rookie coach.
Fantasy Relevant Next Season?
Yes, especially if he is drafted by Atlanta. A team that lost Ryan via trade, Calvin Ridley for the year to suspension, let Russell Gage leave in free agency, if drafted by the Falcons London could be the number one option in the passing game his rookie year. Worst case number two behind Kyle Pitts. Being a highly targeted receiver on a team you would assume is not going to be good this year will only raise his fantasy value. If he is drafted by the Giants, I would be cautiously optimistic in terms of what you can expect from him given the change in the coaching regime for New York. I, ultimately and unbiasedly, would still feel better about his outlook if he were in an Arthur Smith offense than in an offense with a rookie coach.