The NFL season is in its final week. As happens every year, injuries are rearing their ugly heads. As fantasy football managers prepare to set Week 18 lineups, it’s important to stay informed on the latest injury news. Drake London is still dealing with his lingering knee injury. What is his current status and outlook for this week?
Is Drake London Playing Week 18?
London has been dealing with a PCL injury in his knee since Week 11 when he exited the game against the Carolina Panthers. The wide receiver missed four consecutive games before returning to action in Week 16 against the Arizona Cardinals, where he played a season-low 69% of offensive snaps and caught just three passes for 27 yards. He has not logged a full practice session since suffering the injury.
London was once again listed as a limited participant at practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week. Since returning from his PCL sprain, London has exclusively gotten in limited practices and been listed as questionable each week. He has always played. The Atlanta Falcons again listed him as questionable on the final injury report for Sunday’s regular season finale against the New Orleans Saints.
Head coach Raheem Morris addressed London’s status on Friday and said he expects London to play in Week 18. Morris expressed optimism that London, along with Kyle Pitts and Darnell Mooney, would all be available for the divisional matchup despite their questionable designations. London’s final status will be confirmed approximately 90 minutes before Sunday’s 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff.
Why London continues to play is unclear. While these guys are professionals who love football and want to play, it is very obvious that London is not fully healthy. He has four catches for 31 yards across two games since returning from the PCL sprain. London averaged 6.7 receptions and 90.0 yards in nine active games prior to going down with the injury in Week 11, highlighting the stark drop-off in production since his return.
London will play on Sunday, but fantasy managers should not expect him to suddenly return to elite WR1 status. He needs several more weeks off before he is 100%, which obviously he does not have time for during the regular season. London will be back to his usual elite self next season once the PCL injury has fully healed.
London’s Fantasy Football Outlook
When Bijan Robinson is doing Bijan Robinson things (229 yards and two TDs against the Rams on Monday), his teammates turn into spectators more than contributors and that was the case with London.
Snaps weren’t the issue (98.1%) and time of possession was essentially a wash, but London earned just a pair of targets on his 19 routes and really did nothing to help you if you were hoping for him to swing your fantasy championship.
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Bad games happen and sometimes they happen at the worst possible time, but this dud shouldn’t stop you from considering him a low-end WR1 in 2026 (or this week for that matter).
He’s got five WR1 finishes on his resume this season and that includes three weeks in which he led the position in scoring. His 2.38 yards per route are a career best and he’s been targeted on over 28% of his red zone routes in all four of his NFL seasons.
A healthy London can be counted on for the 100-1,271-9 stat line that he gave us last season and I think there’s upside for growth from there. He is a good example of the depth at the position: he probably won’t be a first round pick in redraft, but it doesn’t take much squinting to see him returning a profit on a second round ADP if Atlanta can get anything close to league average play under center.
— PFSN Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe
