What should the Atlanta Falcons expect from Drake London?

Drake London is now the Atlanta Falcons’ clear number one receiver after being drafted 8th overall on Thursday night. Drake is the clear option considering Olamide Zaccheaus was Atlanta’s number one receiver before the team drafted London.

Atlanta is getting a prospect in London that is going to step in from day one and have a big impact on the offense. He is 6’5 and will have no problem catching the jump ball or going over the top of opposing corners.

For a player of his size he has impressive burst and along with Kyle Pitts will give the Falcons the ability to run a cohesive offense and challenge defenders over the top. Drake becomes Atlanta’s third-best option with Kyle Pitts and Cordarrelle Patterson ahead of him.

Patterson just signed a two-year deal with Atlanta and was clearly their number one option last season. Whether it was out of the backfield or lining up at receiver Patterson played in a myriad of roles and always found a way to make an impact.

Kyle Pitts had an up-and-down season but surpassed 1,000-receiving yards as a rookie and gave Atlanta plenty of reason to believe they made the right selection by putting together an impressive highlight reel.

Reasonable year-one expectations for Drake in year one with Atlanta is an 800-yard and 5-touchdown season. These numbers could easily change if Atlanta fixes the offensive line or finds an answer at the quarterback position. Marcus Mariota never put up impressive passing numbers with the Titans and that is unlikely to change joining a bad Atlanta roster.

Add in the fact that Mariota is lining up in front of a line that cannot pass block consistently and expecting huge numbers from Drake aren’t fair expectations. Drake is coming into an offense with a bad offensive line, a bridge quarterback, and two clear options in front of him in Patterson and Pitts.  London is going to be a solid receiver in this league, however, he is joining a team that simply put isn’t setting him up for much success.