USC Football: Pac-12 OPOY-Turned-Top 10 Draft Pick Helps NFL Club Eke Out W

Bouncing back from a zero-catch performance of the 2023 NFL season, one former Trojan wide receiver returned to the stat sheet in a big way for week 2.

Scoring to end the first half of the Falcons' victory over the Packers on Sunday afternoon, Drake London's trip to paydirt was a key moment in their win to send the team to a 2-0 record.

Crisp as ever @DrakeLondon_ ‼️✌️#GBvsATL on FOX
pic.twitter.com/zyoelutptl
— USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) September 17, 2023

Notching his first touchdown of the 2023 season, London's rookie year saw him notch 72 receptions, over 850 yards and four touchdowns over 17 games.

Though criticism has come in terms of his usage in the passing game, alongside his teammate Kyle Pitts, the Falcons offense has committed to the run and an undefeated record to start 2023 is hard to argue with.

Led by Bijan Robinson as a fellow top 10 pick in the most recent NFL draft, London, Pitts and the former Longhorn standout. have propelled a new system under Arthur Smith to share the early lead for the NFC South.

London's production as a Trojan was nothing short of spectacular, eclipsing 1000 yards on nearly 90 catches with seven touchdowns before leaving in his junior season to Atlanta.

A talented receiver, the USC product was taken in the top 10 of the 2022 draft to shore up a receiving corps that lost Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones in recent seasons.

Already making a name for himself, London and his teammates rallied back from a 24-12 deficit to win 25-24 on Sunday in what's a new trend compared to a failure for late game execution from previous years.

Unsatisfied with simply regular season victories, the Falcons want to return to playoff contention for the first time since their Super Bowl glory days more than five years ago, a real possibility in a suddenly competitive NFC South for 2023.

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