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USC TE Coach Compares Trojan Wide Receiver to NFL Great

Seth Doege compared USC's Drake London to Michael Crabtree when discussing the evolution and strengths of the Trojan wide receiver.

During media availability on Tuesday morning USC tight ends coach Seth Doege discussed the evolution of wide receiver Drake London.

London, who is 6-foot-5, enters his third season with the Trojans, and is looking to have a breakout year in 2021. The past two seasons London has primarily played on the inside, however the absence of Tyler Vaughns and Amon Ra-St. Brown opens up opportunity to give the London a shot on the outside.

Doege said, "He’s a really good 'Y' and [that is] the position that he has been playing these past couple of years [and] he’s kinda dominated [it]. So you've gotta be smart when you move him around but as long as you feel like you have a really good player at the 'Y' position and we can find a mismatch on the outside, then let's go expose that as well.”

Doege also compared London to famous wide receiver Michael Crabtree when talking about his athletic abilities citing,

"Drake London really reminds me of Michael Crabtree when he's on the outside. And it kind of correlates because both of them were really, really good basketball players. So they have extremely good body control. But one thing about is they run, like slants and fades are kind of what we do offensively, especially out there. We want to be really good at a slants or fades, especially versus man coverage. And it's really hard to guard Drake [London] outside running the slant or fade right now." 

"Neither one of them are extremely fast players but they are big, physical, very competitive with extremely good body control and body positioning players" said Doege.

"So there's something to be said for you know, obviously finding ways to keep Drake outside."

Last week USC wide receivers coach Keary Colbert spoke about the London's move to outside. Colbert credited the move to Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown departing for the NFL.

“His first couple years he played a lot on the inside because of [Michael] Pittman Jr. and Amon-Ra [St. Brown] and Tyler Vaughns and that's just the way it worked out with trying to get our best four on the field. And Drake owned it, you know what I mean?

He was a head-above-shoulders better on the inside, but I think we've talked about it for him this season, just wanting to get him better, not better, but just wanting to give him experience on the outside as well just so he can check all the boxes.”

As USC's spring camp continues to progress, London continues to emerge as a top target heading into the 2021 season. The dynamic wide out enters his third year under Clay Helton with 15 starts, 72 receptions, 1,069 yards, and eight touchdowns on the stat board.

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