Drake London NFL Draft Stock 2022

Drake London NFL Draft Stock

Drake London out of USC is one of the more intriguing WR prospects in the 2022 draft class. A draft class that is top-heavy with WR talent without a slam dunk WR1. Depending on who you ask, multiple WRs are projected to be the first pass-catcher taken in the 2022 NFL Draft. Current mock drafts from around the industry show the first WR off the board to be either London or Ohio State’s speedster, Garrett Wilson. London is going anywhere from the first to third overall WR taken in mock drafts. Barring something unforeseen, London is a locked and loaded first-round pick, potentially as a top 10 selection.

At 6’4”, 219 pounds, London is the ideal size to be a successful (if not dominant) NFL wide receiver. London looked poised for a monster season at USC in 2021, but a fractured ankle against Arizona ended his season on October 30. I believe, had London not sustained this injury, he would be the consensus WR1 of the 2022 draft class. Up through the ankle injury, London was averaging 11.0 receptions, 135.5 receiving yards, 0.88 TDs per game, and 3.26 receiving yards per team pass attempt, the best mark of his college career. London recorded 130+ receiving yards in six of eight games, and 160+ receiving yards in four of eight games.

Staying on the field has been an issue for London at USC, suiting up for 22 of a possible 31 games through three seasons with the Trojans. However, most of his advanced metrics are solid indicators of success at the next level, including the youngest BOA in this class (stats courtesy of Playerprofiler.com):

• Breakout Age (BOA): 18.1 (99^th percentile)
• College Dominator: 34.9% (69^th percentile)
• College Target Share: 27.3% (82^nd percentile)
• Career receptions per game: 7.3 (second behind only David Bell)

NFL COMBINE RECAP

Still rehabbing from his October ankle injury, London was unable to participate in many of the NFL Combine events. This maintains the intrigue surrounding how London will perform in the official speed and athleticism metrics, although we may already have our answer regarding his athleticism:

2019 Drake London with the bunnies 🤭

Add a dunk contest to the combine @NFL pic.twitter.com/32G3B01XSi

— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) March 4, 2022

The “he also played basketball” has become a bit of a cliché when projecting for the football field, but a 540-degree dunk is ridiculous.

London skipped the USC Pro Day but will host his own Pro Day on April 15, 2022, giving his ankle as much extra time as possible.

We do have some measurable data for London’s physical characteristics and the percentile rank (according to Mockdraftable.com):

• Height: 6’4” (87^th percentile)
• Weight: 219 pounds (87^th percentile)
• Wingspan: 77.75” (62^nd percentile)
• Arm length: 33” (78^th percentile)
• Hand size: 9.38” (50^th percentile)

STRENGTHS

London’s biggest strengths are his size and athleticism and his “zone-breaking” ability, meaning his knack for finding soft spots against zone defenses. London is not known to possess burner speed (we’ll see what his 40-time is). On the surface, it seems he cannot gain separation at the top of his routes. However, there is more to “separation” from a defender than just spatial distance at the point of a target.

Reviewing some Drake London film before the show tonight.

The myth that he can’t separate is a wild one. Can beat press, win with his footwork at the LOS, win with physicality at the top of his stem, win by shielding DBs with his body.

Dude is special.

— Christian Williams (@CWilliamsNFL) March 15, 2022

London has good hands and excels at tracking the football, with his jumping ability and huge catch radius allowing him to excel at “high-pointing” the football. This points to London being above average in contested catches at the NFL level. He is physical at the point of and after the catch and surprisingly elusive in the open field for a player of his size, leading to excellent yards after the catch (YAC) ability. He possesses a strong football I.Q. and is seen as pro-ready right now with excellent and consistent effort, work/practice ethic, and coachability.

WEAKNESSES

There are not many glaring weaknesses in London’s game. Fast for his size, London’s top-end speed, and burst are not elite and his release off the line of scrimmage is hindered by a relatively upright pre-snap stance. He will need to improve his route running and route tree at the next level and can struggle against man/press coverage compared to his abilities in attacking a zone defense. London’s size and physicality allow him to attack press coverage with straight-ahead force, but he has not shown strong ability or lateral mobility to gain initial separation at the line of scrimmage without intentional contact.

NFL PLAYER COMPARISON

The most common NFL comparison for London is Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR, Mike Evans. The good folks over at Establish the Run (establishtherun.com) use what is called “Principal Component Analysis” for incoming rookies to find comparable players from past drafts. The following chart  (via ETR)  shows London’s closest comparable WRs from past drafts:

As you can see, based on this type of analysis, London is in good company with the two closest comps being Mike Evans and Titans’ WR A.J. Brown.

BEST NFL TEAM FIT

Unless something goes very wrong at London’s self-hosted Pro Day, he will be a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. In fact, with the current lack of consensus about the WR1 of this class, London could tip the scales toward himself if he runs well at his Pro Day.

Looking at WR-needy NFL teams who realistically could take a WR in the first round, we can start to speculate which team will select London along with where would be the best fit. The following are the teams likely to select a first-round WR, in the order of where they pick in the first round:

• Atlanta Falcons (8^th overall pick)
• New York Jets (4^th and 10^th overall picks)
• Philadelphia Eagles (15^th and 18^th overall picks)
• New Orleans Saints (16^th and 19^th overall picks)
• New England Patriots (21^st overall pick)
• Green Bay Packers (22^nd and 28^th overall picks)

There is a good chance the Falcons will take a WR with the 8^th pick, but which WR will it be? Multiple industry mock drafts show the Falcons selecting London which would be an ideal fit for London.

He would immediately step in as the team’s WR1, and his presence would be beneficial to Falcons’ TE Kyle Pitts by attracting attention away from the stud TE. And in turn, the attention Pitts will draw from defenses would benefit London. Of course, this all depends on the fate of QB Matt Ryan, whose future with the franchise is in question after the Falcons made it very clear they would have preferred Deshaun Watson.

The best fit for both real-world and fantasy would be the Packers, who took a massive hit to their receiving group by trading Davante Adams to the Raiders. And pairing a big-bodied athletic pass-catcher with Aaron Rodgers will always be a good idea until the day Rodgers retires. However, if the Falcons don’t take London, he would have to make it through past the Jets (10), Eagles (15 and 18), Saints (16 and 19), and Patriots (21) to fall to the Packers at 22^nd overall.

This all hinges on how these NFL teams view the top end of this WR class. Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson, Arkansas’ Treylon Burks, Alabama’s Jameson Williams, or even Ohio State’s Chris Olave could be the choice ahead of London for any of these teams. Either way, there could be a solid run on WRs starting with the Eagles at pick 15. It’s one of the things that makes the NFL Draft such a fun event.