Drake London has always had the potential to be one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and he's finally proving himself as a part of that upper tier of wideouts this season. His chemistry with Michael Penix Jr. is just off the charts, and it goes to show you what he's capable of with half-decent QB play.
Only Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, and CeeDee Lamb have more receiving yards than London's 488, but he also has the most yards in the league without scoring a touchdown. So while Penix's return has helped him take that leap, he needs to end this end zone drought before it gets worse.
According to FantasyPros, London has yet to pick up a red zone target all year. Not in the end zone. inside the five or 10. Nothing. It hasn't been his domain--which needs to change. He scored 16 times in 29 games in 2024 and 2025. Because when he gets a shot in the red zone, good things happen.
Drake London has another!
— NFL (@NFL) November 2, 2025
ATLvsNE on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/yQe1IEW0Bt
For reference, he had 14 red zone targets in 12 games and nine end zone targets last season. They have focused so much on moving him around the formation and using him as a YAC threat, there hasn't been enough of his bread and butter: tacking on six points.
And for as good as he is at attacking the middle of the field, the lack of opportunities he's gotten with the red zone offense is appalling.
The Atlanta Falcons need to get Drake London going in the red zone
The guy is 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. Why are we not throwing him fade routes on the goal line more often? You know he can go up and get it with the best of them, so why not let him cook?
Let's go over some of the receivers with more red zone targets than Drake London:
- Myles Price
- Ben Skowronek
- Mitchell Tinsley
- Jared Wayne
- Jahdae Walker
My lord that is some list--and there's a lot more. The Falcons gave the 25-year-old a four-year, $141 million extension this summer, yet they can't even look in his direction or scheme up plays for him to score after he does a lot of the work to help them get down the field. It's baffling.
The worst part is that as they rank dead last in red-zone pass rate (30.6%), only three Falcons receivers have been targeted in the red zone: Chris Blair, Jahan Dotson, and Olamide Zaccheus. Even Jake Matthews has more red zone targets than him. That can't stay if they want to make the playoffs.
With how much they run the football, once you get inside the five it's Robinson territory, but when the run game isn't there like it was in Week 5, you need to get creative. London is bigger and stronger than most cornerbacks, runs good routes and has good hands. There is no excuse not to involve him.
Eventually, teams are going to start figuring the Dirty Birds out like the Ravens did. They'll start stacking the box, especially in the red zone to flush out the run game and force Atlanta to beat them through the air--so Rees better adjust before opposing defensive coordinators beat him to it.
Somehow, the Dirty Birds are still scoring touchdowns on 69.23% of their red-zone drives, which is good for seventh in the NFL. So we can only imagine how high that number could climb once they adjust and allow Penix to air it out in the red zone to his favorite target just like everywhere else on the field--and it would be the cherry on top of Drake's elite season.
Drake London has enjoyed a sensational season, and is clearly becoming one of the best receivers in football, but the only thing holding him back from being in conversations with Ja'Marr Chase and Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the lack of red-zone usage.
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