{"id":121524,"date":"2025-06-11T14:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T14:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/121524\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T14:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T14:11:14","slug":"falcons-drake-london-wont-be-underappreciated-much-longer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/121524\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcons\u2019 Drake London \u2018won\u2019t be underappreciated\u2019 much longer"},"content":{"rendered":"

ExploreFalcons exercise $16.8 million fifth-year option for receiver Drake London<\/a><\/p>\n

Consider that London\u2019s warning to defensive backfields. He believes he\u2019s about to have a monstrous campaign. Perhaps then he\u2019ll 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 \u2014 and learn about him in ways the Falcons already know.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrake is a really funny one because he comes across as this nice, calm-demeanor teammate, and he\u2019s the opposite when it comes to football,\u201d coach Raheem Morris<\/a> said. \u201cHe\u2019s a barnyard bully. He\u2019s a dog. He\u2019s a high-level competitor. You better get your coaching and information to him during the week because when the lights come on, it\u2019s time to play football and he\u2019s going to go. I absolutely love that about him. <\/p>\n

\"“I’ve<\/p>\n

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez<\/p>\n

\"icon<\/p>\n

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez<\/p>\n

\u201cHe 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\u2019s going to go dark. He has a darkness about him that I love and I think his teammates appreciate.\u201d<\/p>\n

London chuckled when informed of Morris\u2019 comments. \u201cHe loves to frame me as this angry dude,\u201d he said, laughing. London agreed his on-field temperament and his off-field coolness are quite contrasting.<\/p>\n

ExploreFalcons\u2019 Kirk Cousins answers a question by reporting to mandatory minicamp<\/a><\/p>\n

His on-field production has been mostly superb, a feat even more impressive considering his generally poor quarterback play throughout his tenure. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Now, with Michael Penix Jr.<\/a> cemented as the quarterback of the future, London has stability he hasn\u2019t enjoyed to this point. Perhaps the results will reflect such.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe won\u2019t be (underappreciated nationally) after this year,\u201d Penix said.<\/p>\n

Pro Football Focus recently ranked its top 32 receivers. London was listed at No. 11. The catch: He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 Malik Nabors, who came in No. 12, certainly would make an argument. But the Falcons should be thrilled that four years after Julio Jones\u2019 departure, they seem to have found a premier receiver again.<\/p>\n

ExploreRead more about the Falcons<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t trade Drake for anybody,\u201d offensive coordinator Zac Robinson<\/a> said. \u201c(No matter) however he\u2019s rated on the outside perspective, I\u2019m just glad he\u2019s on our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notified of Robinson\u2019s comment, as he did in response to Morris, London paused, smiled and said: \u201cThat means a ton for him to say that. I actually have to go thank him for saying that. I (am) just try to do my job, the work they ask me to do, the best I can, and hopefully it\u2019s paying off.\u201d<\/p>\n

London should be one of the faces of the next successful Falcons team. If the team emerges in 2025, Penix\u2019s opinion will be proved true. London will get his acknowledgment if he\u2019s on a winning team. And that would be great for everybody involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ExploreFalcons exercise $16.8 million fifth-year option for receiver Drake London Consider that London\u2019s warning to defensive backfields. He…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[2566,223,254,29526,2554,224,7,6337,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-121524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-ajc-freelancer","9":"tag-atlanta","10":"tag-atlanta-falcons","11":"tag-atlanta-falcons-vs-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-atlantafalcons","13":"tag-falcons","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-mercedes-benz-stadium","16":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114665140064961883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}