Drake London has been somewhat underappreciated to begin his career. Blame it on his quarterbacks; blame it on his nonglamorous employer and its bland results; blame it on other exhilarating players taking up the air in the Falcons’ receivers group.
But London doesn’t care how one shapes it. It doesn’t faze him.
“I’ve always been overlooked — well, I wouldn’t say ‘overlooked,’ maybe ‘undermined,’ I’d say — my whole life,” London said. “It’s fine with me. It adds fuel to the fire and that’s cool. But definitely going to try to make a statement. I’ve been trying to for a while now. It may not work right now, but it will.”
Consider that London’s warning to defensive backfields. He believes he’s about to have a monstrous campaign. Perhaps then he’ll become a top-10 receiver in the minds of those analyzing such things. The 2025 season, he intends, will be the one in which the nation is forced to acknowledge him — and learn about him in ways the Falcons already know.
“Drake is a really funny one because he comes across as this nice, calm-demeanor teammate, and he’s the opposite when it comes to football,” coach Raheem Morris said. “He’s a barnyard bully. He’s a dog. He’s a high-level competitor. You better get your coaching and information to him during the week because when the lights come on, it’s time to play football and he’s going to go. I absolutely love that about him.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
“He finds quality on people on our football team that he absolutely magnetizes, too, to have that type of demeanor. There will be things you have to correct about the game with Drake because he’s going to go dark. He has a darkness about him that I love and I think his teammates appreciate.”
London chuckled when informed of Morris’ comments. “He loves to frame me as this angry dude,” he said, laughing. London agreed his on-field temperament and his off-field coolness are quite contrasting.
His on-field production has been mostly superb, a feat even more impressive considering his generally poor quarterback play throughout his tenure.
London has 3,042 receiving yards across three seasons, finally earning his first 100-catch and 1,000-yard season in 2024. He also realized his potential as a mismatch nightmare with nine receiving touchdowns, surpassing the six total he had in the two previous seasons.
Now, with Michael Penix Jr. cemented as the quarterback of the future, London has stability he hasn’t enjoyed to this point. Perhaps the results will reflect such.
“He won’t be (underappreciated nationally) after this year,” Penix said.
Pro Football Focus recently ranked its top 32 receivers. London was listed at No. 11. The catch: He’s the youngest of the 11, the only player under 24. He and Puka Nacua are the only ones under 25. And two players ranked ahead of London, Tyreek Hill and Mike Evans, are over 30 and will decline as London ascends.
What one could surmise from the list is the Falcons have possibly the most promising sub-25-year-old receiver in the NFL. The Giants’ Malik Nabers, who came in No. 12, certainly would make an argument. But the Falcons should be thrilled that four years after Julio Jones’ departure, they seem to have found a premier receiver again.
“I wouldn’t trade Drake for anybody,” offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said. “(No matter) however he’s rated on the outside perspective, I’m just glad he’s on our team.”
Notified of Robinson’s comment, as he did in response to Morris, London paused, smiled and said: “That means a ton for him to say that. I actually have to go thank him for saying that. I just try to do my job, the work they ask me to do, the best I can, and hopefully it’s paying off.”
London should be one of the faces of the next successful Falcons team. If the team emerges in 2025, Penix’s opinion will be proved true. London will get his acknowledgment if he’s on a winning team. And that would be great for everybody involved.
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