FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons picked up wide receiver Drake London's fifth-year option, the team announced Wednesday. London is now locked in through the 2026 season.
London was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, which grants the Falcons a fifth-year team option. Atlanta therefore needed to decide on that part of London's rookie contract by May 1, a league-wide deadline.
"Drake is a dog," Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said back in January. "That's the best way to describe him, whether it's practice field, whether it's meetings, whether it's game. He is so competitive, hyper competitive, that it's good that he has these emotions that happen with it. Sometimes he can channel them and even be a little better. But then you're like, 'Man, that's what makes you go.'"
And go he did in 2024.
London had his first-ever 1,000-yard season last year. He caught 100 of his 158 targets for 1,271 yards. That's good for a 63.3% catch rate and an average of 74.8 yards per game. He caught a career-high nine touchdowns, too – more than double his previous high of four from his rookie season.
London also had his best individual game last season. In the Falcons' Week 18 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers, he had 10 receptions for a game-high 187 yards and two touchdowns, his first multi-score game.
"You know how we feel about Drake: He's a stud on the field," Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said during the NFL Draft. "He's everything we're about. Just like we're just talking about being obsessed with the game. Obviously, he's a good man off the field, but he blacks out when it's time to play and when it's time to compete, and he will do anything he can to rip your face off and win the game. That's who he is, and that's what we want."
In 2023, London caught 69 of his 110 targets (62.7%) for 905 yards (56.6 per game) and two touchdowns. And in 2022, he caught 72 of his 117 targets (61.5%) for 866 yards (50.9 per game) for four touchdowns.
Professionally, London has shown year-over-year improvement. Personally, he has grown into a vocal leader within the Falcons' locker room.
"I've seen that big time," Robinson said. "I would have never known that he wasn't in years past."
That turn came in a critical year for the Falcons' offense. London was the only wide receiver from 2023 guaranteed to return in 2024. Obviously, Atlanta added to the group, but London remained the most familiar to the Falcons and really lived up to that part.
London is once again in such a role, which should be beneficial to the Falcons' second-year quarterback, Michael Penix Jr. Those two displayed a lot of promise in Penix's three starts at the end of last season.
Since joining the Falcons, London has only ever missed one game – in 2023 due to a groin injury. He has started in all but two of his appearances. Clearly, London was a pick that has paid off.
"Everybody knows that when the ball is snapped, No. 5 is going to be giving everything he's got, every single snap, whether he's blocking, running around, catching, run after catch," Robinson said. "He's an incredible football player and another guy that's just going to keep getting better."
