The USC Trojans have produced some good wide receivers in the NFL, especially in the past decade. It started back with Robert Woods going in the second round in 2013, followed by a couple more in Marqise Lee and Nelson Agholor. Juju Smith-Schuster burst onto the scene in 2017 as a rookie, and there have been two in the last couple drafts, with Michael Pittman Jr. drafted by the Colts and Amon-Ra St. Brown drafted by the Lions. It looks like the 2022 NFL Draft will see another USC draftee, and that is Drake London.
Drake London has the chance to rise up the ranks for the 2022 NFL Draft.
London went to Moorpark High in California, and was a stud receiver in his later years in high school. He caught 51 passes for 1,032 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2017, while also rushing five times for 124 yards and throwing a touchdown pass. He received (most notably) LA Daily News All-Area second team that season.
As a senior in 2018, London caught 62 passes for 1,089 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was a 2018 PrepStar All-American, and made the Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, among other local awards. London was also a very good basketball player, and even played in 2020 for the Trojans after his freshman year in football.
So far at USC, his production hasn’t been excellent. Part of that, of course, revolves around the fact that Pittman Jr., St. Brown, and Tyler Vaughns all were ahead of him on the depth chart. After seasons of 39/567/5 and 33/502/3, London has a chance to be the leading receiver and command a heavy target share.
Let’s look at how his skill set stacks up for the 2022 NFL Draft ahead of what many believe to be a breakout year.
First-Team All-Size and All-YAC
The first thing to note with Drake London is his size and strength. At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, London has the size and frame to handle things as a traditional “X” receiver. Contested catches are one of the areas that London will thrive in with that size, and he has the length and subsequent massive catch radius to make plays outside of his frame. London’s length also helps him be a very stout blocker in space, and he stays competitive in that area, which will impress scouts and coaches.
London is a great hands catcher and plucks the ball out of the air with ease. He’s strong working through contact over the middle of the field and has the frame to box out defenders to maintain good position. London has very good flexibility for his size. This helps him create a little separation at the top of his routes and be more crisp with transitions, along with his good hand usage to clear contact.
After the catch is another area where London thrives, and that works due to his good athleticism and play strength. He has exceptional contact balance and strength that makes him extremely tough to wrap up in space, especially for smaller defensive backs. London can also make defenders miss with solid stop/start quickness and very good recognition and processing of space and where defenders are located.
Finally, London’s football intelligence is very good, one of the areas being that spatial awareness when he gets into space. The same trait applies to how he’s able to find space quickly against zone coverage and how he works back to the football and into space when things break down.
His Move To The Perimeter Will Be Important
There are some limitations with Drake London’s game because of his size. For one, he doesn’t have the straight line speed to separate vertically, despite his usage in the slot to work up the seam. London isn’t truly dynamic or explosive either, which will bring about challenges at the next level with his releases, transitions throughout breaks, and after the catch, where toughness will be the calling card.
The other big note is that London operated exclusively out of the slot this past season at USC. It’s likely that changes in 2021, as he will be the top guy in the receiver room. It will be interesting to see how he operates against press coverage, as he’s seen mostly off-coverage in the slot. London has the physical demeanor and length to succeed versus press, but that adjustment likely will take some time.
It’s something glossed over a bit as well, but London’s route tree was pretty limited as well. Curl routes, drags on mesh concepts, and shorter in and out breaking routes were put on London’s plate in 2020, with the occasional route up the seam. Seeing an expansion of that route tree will help London’s 2022 NFL Draft stock and performance on the perimeter.
Final Thoughts/2022 NFL Draft outlook
Drake London is one of the biggest breakout candidates at the wide receiver position in 2021. His size, frame, play strength, and ability after the catch make him a threat for double digit touchdowns this fall, especially with how he can thrive in contested spots. Banking on that potential this season is why he’s up there on most summer rankings.
However, for this writer, London will start a bit lower. It’s important he work on creating separation and his release game, especially with a likely move outside in 2021. Again, he has the physical profile to win outside, but it needs to materialize. His athleticism is good for his size, but unlocking an element of his game to win vertically will open up more avenues to win out there.
Building even more chemistry with quarterback Kedon Slovis will also be interesting to watch. Gaining more trust and confidence will be important, and it’s likely he has a lot of it thanks to his acumen getting open when things break down.
London has a couple important match ups this year against Arizona State and Notre Dame, who will have upper-echelon talent in the secondary. Big games against those teams will also elevate his stock. Will London make the adjustment and improvements necessary to be a first round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft? We will see this fall.