ESPN's NFL Rankings Overlook Two Key Atlanta Falcons Players

If we are to believe some anonymous rankings, then the Atlanta Falcons have a pair of underappreciated players on their roster.

As we approach training camp later this month, Jeremy Fowler and ESPN have been slowly unveiling their rankings for every NFL position group. To put together their results, the worldwide leader surveyed 70 league executives, coaches, and scouts to rank the top 10 players across 11 positions. The most recent rankings included some under-rating of both wide receiver Drake London and linebacker Divine Deablo.

London fell under the ‘honorable mention’ category, while Deablo was entirely unranked.

The Falcons’ wideout slots in behind many of the usual suspects: Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase, Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson, Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Los Angeles’ Puka Nacua, Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb, and even Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown. All of those are players we can live with, but the others around him in the honorable mentions? Not so much.

“Really solid in most areas, great at the 50-50 catch, great in the red zone. He won't take the top off as often as some others, more of a possession guy, but really good in his role. He'd probably be more of a household name with better QB play,” one anonymous NFL coordinator said about London.

What likely held London back in a rating like this was his Week 11 knee injury that cost him much of the second half of the season. Before that, he was on pace for 1,500+ yards and 11+ touchdowns, which would have ranked him among the top three wideouts.

Should London get some consistency at quarterback, he will see his league-wide notoriety continue to rise.

As for Deablo, his total omission from the list is disappointing. The green dot linebacker for the Falcons was one of their most important last season, and his absence revealed that in a major way.

Through the team’s first six games, Deablo was all over the field, recording 24 tackles, a half-sack, a fumble recovery, and four passes defensed. As a team, the Falcons ranked among the league's best in several defensive metrics, including the league’s No. 2 overall unit in yards allowed. After his forearm injury, offenses averaged 7.8 more points, 97 more passing yards, and 49 more rushing yards per game in his absence.

“I’ve been around guys that are really demonstrative leaders that can have that effect, where their voice just calms you down because they’re so demonstrative and so certain in everything they do and so even-keeled when it comes to whatever the situation may be,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said about Deablo. “They’re that rock you can lean on. And he does that in a way I’ve never seen before. It’s so unique in his calmness and his demeanor and his consistency in all that he does.”

The linebacker is a difference maker for the Falcons – with him on the field, they were 8-4. Without him, they were 0-5.

Overall, both players would see their stock rise with more consistent wins from their team and better injury luck.

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