Drake London is showing his personality as his numbers rise in the Falcons’ offense

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – After Raheem Morris was hired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons but before he was introduced to the media, he introduced himself to wide receiver Drake London.

Morris, who had worked as the Rams’ defensive coordinator for the past three seasons, called London, who was playing college in Southern California, and learned that the two lived just 20 minutes away from each other, so they met for dinner at The Commons in Calabasas, northwest of Los Angeles.

“I had the opportunity to sit and listen to him and hear how passionate he was about the team and some of the things he wanted to do,” Morris said. “I gave him free rein to do some of those things and be more himself. That’s exactly what he did.”

What London wanted to do was break away from what he thought a young, respectful teammate should be and adapt to his personality.

“I’m going to walk my talk, I’m going to play my game and whatever happens, happens because that’s me,” London said in August. “I will do it.”

This is starting to look like a good plan. London recorded a career-high 12 catches for 154 yards on Thursday night against the Buccaneers and ranks 12th in the league with 354 receiving yards. This is the kind of performance the 23-year-old expected from himself at the start of the season.

In fact, it’s the kind of performance he’s expected from himself since entering the league with the No. 8 overall pick in 2022. But his first two seasons were complicated by inconsistent quarterback play and the limits he set for himself as a young player, thinking he should keep his mouth shut and follow the veterans’ lead.

“I told myself I’m going to be myself this year, there’s nothing more… I don’t want to say I’m hiding, but I’m going to be myself this year, I’m going to play the ball that made me do this at this point,” London said. “I will not go back to anything from the past, whatever it may be. I think I’ll just be myself from now on.”

In the locker room, London speaks quietly with a quick but shy smile. When his new teammate Darnell Mooney met him this offseason, he thought, “He’s cool.”

Then Mooney saw London on the practice field.

“No disrespect to the people of California, but I thought he was just a California kid, but he has this aggressiveness about him,” Mooney said. “I never knew that. Sometimes they try to calm him down a little, but I love it.”

Journeyman wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge stole the show in the Falcons’ Week 5 win over Tampa Bay, catching the game-winning 45-yard touchdown pass one play after replacing the injured London, but it’s London who’s in has been putting on the show lately. He has been targeted 25 times and has 18 catches for 218 yards over the last two weeks. All three numbers are highs for two consecutive games in his career.

“It’s going to happen today,” he was heard saying on the field in a “Mic’d Up” video the team released this week.

100+ meters
1 touchdown
1 walk-off celebration@DrakeLondon on the microphone 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/NNqxkciMsf

– Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 5, 2024

This is what Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​has been waiting for from the 6-foot, 220-pound Londoner, whose style of play immediately reminded Cousins ​​of BJ Cunningham, his former teammate at Michigan State. Cunningham caught 218 passes for 3,086 yards and 25 touchdowns with the Spartans from 2008 to 2011, most of them from Cousins.

“I told Drake, ‘You’re the first-round pick version of BJ Cunningham,'” the quarterback said. “He was great at the catch point, takes pride in it, expects to catch contested catches and separates well. A man with hands is like, “How does he separate?” But Drake separates well. You feel like you’re getting the best of both worlds. Then you add up its size and appearance and otherwise it’s a friendly target. It’s covered, but it’s open because it gives you so much surface area to throw the football.”

The confidence of Cousins, a 13-year veteran with four Pro Bowl appearances, has helped London come out of his shell.

“It feels great,” London said. “He played a lot of ball in his years, and good football at that. Hearing that from him is really, really good, and it just makes me want to go out and prove to everyone that what he says is true.”

Go deeper

How an NFL journeyman “fainted” and gave the Falcons another improbable victory

London’s 44 non-drop goals this year make him the safest wide receiver in the league through five weeks, according to Pro Football Focus’ chart. Cousins ​​is surprised every time a ball he throws toward London hits the ground, even in practice. When the receiver failed to make a controversial catch during a joint practice against the Dolphins in August, Cousins ​​playfully chided him for it as he jogged back to the huddle.

“I thought he caught it, and I thought, ‘Holy cow, he caught that ball,'” Cousins ​​said. “I told him when he came back to the huddle, ‘Hey, Drake, if you had caught the ball, I would have told you that you had the best hands of anyone I’ve ever played with. But you dropped it, so now you have to earn it.’ I think he has incredibly natural hands, he’s aggressive.”

You can’t tackle it @DrakeLondon_ 😤 pic.twitter.com/Z4citpVLFe

– Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 6, 2024

London is also one of the most used wide receivers in the league. Mooney is the only receiver who has been on the field for a higher percentage of his team’s snaps than London this season, and London’s 95.3 percent usage rate is a dramatic increase compared to his first two seasons as a rookie Maximum of 78.3 percent reached.

London, which ranks sixth in the league with 18 first-down catches, was on the sideline preparing to return to the Tampa Bay game when Hodge scored and became the first Falcon to beat his teammate in the end zone reached to celebrate.

“Absolute toughness is the first thing you notice about him,” Morris said. “He’s like the nicest kid in America when he’s off the field, and as soon as he puts the helmet on and passes are thrown, you just see this toughness that I personally didn’t know about.” Drake has that dog mentality. It’s the story of the Falcons’ wideouts. He carries this banner of high standards.”

Go deeper

Evaluating the Desmond Ridder-Rondale Moore trade: Falcons and Cardinals find value in fresh starts

London’s increased commitment is not the only change under the new offensive coaching staff. He made 34 percent of his catches this season as a slot receiver. Last season this value was 18.8 percent. According to TruMedia, he’s also running nearly twice as many out routes and post routes per game, while his slants and crossing routes have declined by almost the same percentage.

“There’s really nothing Drake can’t do from a receiver standpoint,” first-year offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said. “He has every weapon.”

He just had to unleash them all, and that’s what he’s working on this year.

“He’s really vocal and a great communicator with his quarterback and his other wideouts,” Morris said. “I’m so proud that he did it because that’s exactly what he wanted to do. That was something very special for us.”

London can’t say why it took him three seasons to feel like he could be a braver teammate.

“There was a lot going on, but I think it was mostly about getting comfortable,” he said. “I’m still very, very young, especially in my third year. It was just a little different. There’s a 180 degree situation here with the coaching staff and the gameplay and everyone here and everything, it’s just different. Our mentality is that we want to go out and destroy everything on the field in front of us.”

(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)