Falcons’ Drake London among the most productive boundary WRs in NFL

Despite Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson getting most of the attention among rookie wideouts last year, Drake London was quietly one of the most productive players in football last year.

Pro Football Focus compiled a list of the best boundary receivers, and London was among some of the league’s best — Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, and more.

Percentage of snaps from a wide alignment: 78.4%
Yards per route run: 2.07

London is a big-bodied wideout who knows how to use his size to his advantage. He played 78.4% of his snaps out wide a season ago, the highest rate among all rookies.

London also posted a 91.1 receiving grade against single coverage from that alignment, which ranked top-10 in the NFL. As he will continue to be a focal point of that offense, London could take an even bigger step in Year 2.

It’s actually quite surprising that London took nearly 80% of his snaps out wide because he is so productive working out of the slot. Nevertheless, the stats back up what Falcons fans already knew — Drake London is a stud.

PFF expects London to be in for a huge 2023 campaign. They aren’t the only ones. Peter Schrager had the former 8th overall pick as a breakout candidate for the upcoming season.

The USC product broke Atlanta’s record for most receptions as a first-year player, which Kyle Pitts broke the year prior. He put up nearly 900 yards on 72 receptions and quickly developed a rapport with Desmond Ridder. Across four games with him at quarterback, London was targeted 36 times, catching 25 of them for 333 yards.

The Falcons are primed to be one of the best offenses in football, and they have their WR1 in Drake London.