FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Drake London is a self-described daydreamer. Before the season began, he envisioned what this season could look like for him within a new offense.

London dreamed big; he set "outlandish" goals. And now, they're starting to come to fruition.

Through six games this season, London has already matched his career-high with four touchdowns, and he's currently No. 8 in the league with 428 receiving yards—well on his way to surpassing his career-high total of 905 yards. Beyond his personal bests, he's also up there with the league leaders in numerous categories, including catches, where he ranks No. 3.

"I always envision stuff," London said. "I envision even greater for us right now. I think the sky's the limit and that we just got to keep pushing for that to get to those levels."

The Falcons' coaching staff had a vision for him coming into the season, too.

"When we met, he talked about wanting to take this leadership role and a serious type of demeanor," Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said. "And he's done that right from the beginning. Right from OTA days, I [could] already feel the urgency and what he wanted to be."

When Morris brought Zac Robinson along from the Los Angeles Rams to become the Falcons' offensive coordinator, they immediately realized how they could use London in a different scheme and used Rams receiver Puka Nacua as a model. As a fifth-round pick last year, Nacua broke the all-time rookie record for receptions (105) and yards (1,486). They saw a similar role working for London, who, at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds almost mimics a tight end's frame and strength. Instead of using him as an "X" receiver on the end, London has taken the movable "Z" role in the slot in Robinson's offense.

"He is certainly a chess piece that you can move around everywhere and he can do everything," Robinson said. "Having somebody like him for the offense, we've talked about how he's borderline a tight end at some points with the blocking, and then he can split out wide, He's in the slot. So, (we) definitely try to move him around as much as we can and use his versatility to our advantage."

While this is a new spot for him in the NFL, he's familiar with playing in the slot. It took him back to his college days at the University of Southern California where he earned a role as a freshman in that position. He's also been able to borrow skills from his former life as a basketball player, utilizing spacial awareness and creating mismatches against defenders. He's comfortable in the position, which allows him to use all the tools at his disposal.

For example, he's an important part of the run game with his blocking ability, contributing to that part of the offense about 90% of the time. Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Dwayne Ledford awards a player each week with a WWE-style belt in run blocking. London won it after the Week 2 win against the Philadelphia Eagles, where the Falcons gained 152 rushing yards, their second-best rushing output of the season.

However, blocking isn't anything entirely new for London either.

"I think it's just being noticed now because when you start doing good," London said. "Now, I'm on ESPN talking and doing stuff on my off day so everything is a little bit ramped up, but I think it's just people are taking notice now of my blocking capabilities."

Even though he's integrated in the run game, he's still making Drake-London-type plays. He's still coming down with those 50-50 balls and making seemingly impossible, explosive plays. London leads the league in the most tight-window targets (18) and receptions (9). He's also No. 2 in the NFL this season with catches over expectation (4.8), according to Next Gen Stats.

Those stats are very indicative of what London's always been good at. But, this season, he feels he's been able to be himself more because of the leadership around him — from the coaching staff to quarterback Kirk Cousins.

"I think it's just the top down of who's in the building, the trust that we have in each other and, two, just the players that I'm surrounded by allows me to be myself," London said. "Mainly just the people in the building. They allow me to be me, whether that be getting angry or keep that level-headed (attitude), if you're playing good then that don't really matter. It doesn't really matter how you act."

As London takes strides towards a breakout season, Cousins has been a big part of that, and not just because he's the one finding the Falcons' No. 1 receiver downfield. London said he's learned an important lesson from Cousins: "If you want to be great you got to spend your days in the facility, get more work."

And that's exactly what the two of them have done. They'll spend extra time watching film together. There's constant communication between the receiver and quarterback. Falcons quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates has seen London's maturity and growth from different perspectives. Yates was London's position group coach in his first two seasons before Yates shifted to the quarterback's room. He's seen how London has taken the initiative with Cousins and how Cousins is helping him along the way.

"I'm excited for him and want to see him have a really strong year," Cousins said. "I tell him that when I'm hard on him or challenging him, I say, 'Understand the only reason I challenge you or am hard on you is because I want to see you be All-Pro. I want to see you go to the Pro Bowl. I want to see you have a big-time year. So, if I'm ever coming down on you, it's from a place of I want to see you have big-time success.' Sometimes it's going to take candor and some tough conversations to do that."

All-Pro. Pro Bowl. These are the things that London's been daydreaming about, and the Falcons imagine those dreams, too.

"He still has more," Morris said. "He still strives for more, he still strives to be a better all-around player in every aspect of what we ask him to do."