Atlanta Falcons Receiver Primed For Fantasy Dominance

While Drake London’s year-three breakout gives the Atlanta Falcons excitement and stability for their future, it also boosts him into an elite tier of fantasy football wide receivers.

After two years of strong production, London finally found the quarterback play needed to hit his true potential, finishing the season with 1,271 yards and nine touchdowns on 100 receptions. He finished the season as the fifth-highest-scoring wide receiver in Fantasy (PPR), far higher than his 37 and 31 finishes in his first two seasons.

While the Falcons had their best quarterback play since drafting London, it still left something to be desired. During his time as the starter, Veteran Kirk Cousins only had a big-time throw rate of 2.7% according to PFF. Before being benched, his 8.0 average depth of target ranked 18th out of 32 quarterbacks with over 300 dropbacks.

Though London performed well despite Cousins’ clear regression, it felt as if his ceiling grew much higher once rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. took over. In the three games Penix started, the former Washington gunslinger had 10 big-time throws according to PFF, only three less than Cousins in 11 fewer games. His average depth of target (ADOT) was also 2.6 points higher than Cousins’ at 10.6.

In games where Penix started, London averaged 23 fantasy points, seven receptions and 117 yards per game. In two of those three games, London reached over 100 yards despite only doing it once with Cousins. His best game came in week 18 against division opponent Carolina, where London’s 40.70 fantasy points was the most he had ever had.

Coming into the new year with Penix as his starter, it is not hard to predict London will stay fantasy-dominant. With Penix under center, London was on pace for 126 receptions, 2,106 yards and 12 touchdowns over an 18-game stretch. This would equal 414 PPR fantasy points in a season, which would land third all-time amongst receivers only behind Cooper Kupp in 2021 and Jerry Rice in 1995.

Though it is unlikely London will stay on such an insane pace, there is an argument to be made for ranking him inside the top five for fantasy receivers next season. According to KeepTradeCut’s crowdsourced rankings, London is ranked the 9th best wide receiver for Dynasty leagues.

With targets being one of the main factors leading to fantasy points, London’s outlook is promising. Since 2020, two of the top three fantasy scorers at the receiver position each year have been the top three in targets amongst the NFL. This season, London finished fifth in targets, while only two of the four wideouts to outscore him on the year saw more, Bengals’ Jamarr Chase and Vikings Justin Jefferson. Yet, in games where Penix started, London averaged around 12 targets a game, two more targets per game than NFL target leader Chase and around 3 more than Jefferson.

While London remains right on the edge of being considered a top-10 fantasy receiver, his production with Penix makes him a possible sneaky steal in fantasy drafts next year. Though he is yet to be considered a top-five receiver in the game, I expect him to put up fantasy production similar to names such as Ceedee Lamb, Puka Nacua and Amon-Ra St.Brown, putting his name into the elite tier of fantasy wide receivers right under Justin Jefferson and Jamarr Chase.