Drake to Drake: How A Rapper's Bet Made USC's London The Falcons Next Star Receiver
Drake London woke up to a text Thursday morning prior to getting dressed and heading down the Las Vegas strip. Strike that, he work up to dozens of messages from folks all with the same message.
Most times, texts on draft day are to wish a prospect good luck or are ones filled with best wishes. That wasn't London's case. Instead, his friends wanted to talk about the rapper, Drake.
More specifically, they wanted to mention of Drake posted a $100,000 bet on the USC pass-catcher to be the first receiver selected in the NFL Draft. The rapper posted the bet to his Instagram with the caption "Drake betting on Drake just feels right."
Seven picks after Georgia's Travon Walker was selected first overall, both Drakes could celebrate. The Atlanta Falcons made the bet hit when London became the first receiver selected at No. 8.
How long until Drake pledges his allegiance to the Dirty Birds for 2022?
"My friends were hitting my phone saying Champagne Papi bet on me, so I thought that was funny," London told Atlantafalcons.com following the selection.
The 6-4, 220-pound London is now tasked with being the top receiver in an offense and to carry a legacy built by Andre Rison, Roddy White and Julio Jones. He also must be ready handle facing No. 1 cornerbacks on Sunday's as the Falcons' top receiver.
At least he's confident in his skills, telling reporters late Thursday evening that a quarterback simply needs to "put the ball anywhere. I'm gonna go get it."
His new coach Arthur Smith backed the statement, saying how his size will give him the advantage to win across the middle of the field.
“He’s hard to bring down, he’s a catch-and-run guy, he’s also super competitive,” Smith said. “He’s a very versatile player even at his size.”
London's biggest calling card beside his size is his ability to win in press coverage. In his final season at USC, he led the FBS in contested catches with 19. He also averaged 15 targets per game last season while recording over 1,000 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
“I’m somebody who goes up and gets the ball, regardless of whether he is quote-unquote covered or not,” London said. “I think (the Falcons) are getting a playmaker.”
The only question remaining for London is his speed. Much like Michael Crabtree in 2009, London elected not to run the 40 during his local pro day away from USC. The limited speed didn't stop the San Francisco 49ers from selecting Crabtree inside the top 10.
It didn't stop Atlanta from doing the same.
“It’s great, we worked him out, and we felt pretty comfortable with his speed and everything, on tape,” Smith said. “We are not going to discuss internal measurements we had on guys. But you just watch the tape, he’s plenty fast enough.”
If the Falcons walk away with a player that has a combination of the size and speed Jones and Calvin Ridley, fans will be buying No. 5 jerseys for years to come. A combination of tight end Kyle Pitts and London in the red zone might be one of the more enticing duo in the league with time.
It only falls just behind the new Drake-Drake pairing worth $325,0000.
