Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London was the eighth overall pick in 2022 and has shown signs of growth in all three NFL seasons. He looked the part of a future WR1 as a rookie by posting a 72-866-4 stat line, and then displayed the ability to leverage his 6’4” frame in new ways in Year 2, where his yards per catch jumped up by 9.2%.
Last season, in an uneven offense, he was the stabilizing force, a step in development that often takes more time to showcase. He caught 100 balls in 2024 and scored nine times on his 158 targets, a massive improvement from his six on 227 looks through two years.
Is this the year he jumps to true superstardom and leads the Falcons and, more importantly, your fantasy team, to new levels?
Drake London’s Fantasy Outlook
It’s a tiny sample, but the optimism around this offense is built around Atlanta averaging 32 points per game in Michael Penix’s three starts to end last season, the sixth most over that run (more than the eventual Super Bowl champion Eagles). If the Falcons are truly going to move in the direction of a top-10 scoring offense, their standout receiver is going to be a significant factor, and that has whispers of elite upside swirling.
Drake London could finish as the WR1 in 2025
In the last 3 games of the 2024 season with Michael Penix under center…
Targets: 8, 13, 18
Avg. Target share: 39%It’s a small sample size, but the Falcons haven’t added real target competition for London
He’s a target vacuum pic.twitter.com/vgqqp3xMFx
— The FF Dynasty (@TheFFdynasty) May 30, 2025
London’s upside is obvious. The draft capital told us what the NFL as a whole thought of him coming out of USC, and the highlights are the professional level rank up there with any young receiver in the sport.
What impressed me last season, more than the ceiling, was the floor. With the offense around him unsettled at the very least, he finished seven weeks as a top-16 WR and, again, improved his production relative to expectations.
He was WR13 on a per-game basis a season ago, something that is on the low range of expectations entering 2025. His fantasy profile took a major step forward in his third season, as he saw his red-zone usage spike from seeing a target on 29.1% of his routes run inside the opponent’s 20-yard line to 40%.
How impressive is that number?
Well, it led the league among 77 qualifiers at the position, so there’s that, but that doesn’t even do that rate justice. How about the fact that future Hall of Fame Davante Adams (34.8%) and the great Amon-Ra St. Brown (33%) were the only other two to touch 32%?
Through three seasons, London has two more catches than DeAndre Hopkins had (despite running 374 fewer routes) and is essentially walking in line with Calvin Ridley’s first three years for this franchise in terms of yardage (3,042 for London and 3,061 for Ridley). That’s some pretty good company to hold, and if Penix is the type of quick study that this franchise believes him to be, this could be the cheapest you’ll get London over the next few seasons.
With Penix at the helm, Atlanta’s WR1 turned 95 routes in 39 targets, 22 catches, 352 yards, and a pair of scores.
London From Penix
- 12.7 aDOT with 61.5% of his receptions coming more than 10 yards downfield
London From Kirk Cousins
- 10.3 aDOT with 39.5% of his targets coming more than 10 yards downfield
That Penix profile looks like Mike Evans’ past two seasons (12.9 aDOT with 52% of his looks coming downfield) while the Cousins line mirrors what DeVonta Smith has done across those two years (10.7 aDOT and 36.3%).
That’s the sort of difference we are discussing and why London is worthy of the optimism that early drafters express. Personally, I prefer Ladd McConkey in this general range at the position, but that’s not an anti-London stance as much as it is my confidence level in Justin Herbert.
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Also living in this ADP range are receivers like Tyreek Hill and Garrett Wilson, two talented options I’d have no issue passing on in favor of London. There’s an encouraging ceiling to chase in this Falcon without having to compromise your season with the type of floor that I believe both Hill and Wilson have.
He’s being treated as a fringe WR1, and that’s exactly. Pairing a solid RB1 with him puts you in a great position to compete through two rounds, and that’s all you can ask for.
Dan Fornek’s Drake London Fantasy Projection
Drake London finally started to show more than flashes of high-level play in 2024. The third-year receiver posted career-highs in targets (158), receptions (100), receiving yards (1,271), and touchdowns (9). London also made a significant jump as a wide receiver in fantasy, averaging 16.5 PPR points per game (WR13) after averaging 10.5 and 10.9 PPG in his first two seasons.
The veteran receiver had eight games with 10+ targets, two of which came in the season’s final three games with Michael Penix Jr. under center. From Weeks 16 to 18, London caught 22 of 39 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns. London was tied for the WR1 in fantasy during that span (23.1 PPG) with the second-highest yards per route run (3.74), fourth-highest air yards share (50.6%), and the second-most end zone targets (6).
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Atlanta’s offense mostly returns in 2025, but the team knows that Penix will be under center this time. The second-year quarterback leaned heavily on London in the passing attack in a small sample size last season and wasn’t afraid to utilize his size down the field. There is plenty of competition for targets in Atlanta, but London has a WR1 overall finish in his range of outcomes if his connection with Penix expands beyond a three-game sample size.
