Drake London is a two-sport athlete for the USC Trojans, playing both basketball and football, and when you flip on his tape it is very easy to see why that is the case. He is 6-foot-5, 210-pounds, but he moves extremely well for his size. His basketball background shows up on the football field when he is forced to track the ball vertically down the field as well as in jump-ball situations when he has to rise up over defenders. London spent most of his time in the slot this last season due to Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown taking most of the reps on the outside. With both of those players gone we can hopefully see London take more reps on the outside so we can see how he deals with press coverage since that wasn’t the case last year. If he can win with a man on him at the line-of-scrimmage it will only help to boost his stock that is already quite high and we could be talking about a first-round prospect in next year’s draft, especially with his athletic profile.
Pros:
- Natural ball skills, plucks the ball out of the air with ease.
- Dog w/ the ball in his hands, scratches and claws for every yard.
- Active as a blocker, moves defenders off their spot.
- Acceleration through cuts/breaks.
- Working through contact in his routes.
- Lowering his hips at the top of the route.
- Crafty at the top of his route.
- Attacks defensive backs leverage/blind spots.
- Flexible/loose hips makes transitions appear to be easy.
- Finding the soft spots in the coverage/zone.
- Tracks the football exceedingly well.
- Plays tricks on the defensive back w/ his eyes.
- Contested catch ability.
Cons:
- Small route tree.
- Operates mostly out of the slot, doesn’t face very much press coverage.
- Needs to add tempo to his route, runs most of his routes at full speed.
- Doesn’t possess great speed.
- At times his feet can expand too far out of his frame, results in slips and trips.
2021 Season Statistics:
33 receptions, 502 receiving yards, 15.2 yards-per-reception, and 3 total touchdowns in 6 games played.
Preliminary Grade:
7.25 – First Round Grade
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