Fantasy Football ADP: Why Drake London is a First-Round Pick in 12-Team PPR Drafts

In 2024, Drake London had a breakout season which lead to him finishing at WR5 in PPR formats. Across all FLEX players, London finished 11th, which would qualify him as a first round pick in 12-Team PPR formats. As we approach draft season, Drake London sits at 19th overall in ADP, per FantasyPros, but I debate why he has 1st round upside.

Why I Believe In Drake London

I have discussed in past articles how I love not just Drake London, but the Atlanta Falcons as a whole. I truly believe they will be a breakout team in the NFL and it would not surprise me to see them make a quality playoff run. I am not quite sure they can beat the Eagles, Rams, or Lions, but they can beat the rest on their best day.

If I command this belief in the Falcons, I definitely command it in Drake London. Looking back to the 2022 NFL Draft, I liked Garrett Wilson but I loved Drake London. He was fantastic at USC and had everything it took to be an elite wideout in the NFL. His situation has took time, but he broke out in year three.

Despite questionable quarterback play, London commanded the 4th most targets in the NFL (158), the 7th most receptions (100) and the 4th most yards (1,271). In his time with Michael Penix Jr, he recorded 476 of those yards in just five games — the last two games of which were for 106 and 187 yards, respectively.

Drake London has played 50 career games.

Dating back to 2013, there are only three WRs to draw targets and convert first downs at a higher per-route rate than London through an initial 50 career games.

It's flown under the radar because his offenses have been terrible, but… https://t.co/GMfMdSto3k pic.twitter.com/S7hvsYfmpX
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) January 8, 2025

The Falcons Offensive Outlook

The Falcons now run a full season with Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback. I love this because MPJ is a WRs best friend. At Washington, they ran a very high-risk high-reward style of play. This lead for electric numbers out of Rome Odunze, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Jalen McMillan. In that 2023 season, Penix threw for 326.9 yards per game and 36 total touchdowns. That accompanied 11 interceptions, but that did not stop them from playing in the National Championship Game.

In Atlanta, Penix Jr. ranked 6th in Deep Ball Rate and 4th in Hero Ball Rate. He will not be shy to let his receivers make plays, and that benefits Drake London.

The Falcons will also be running out Bijan Robinson (2024 RB3), a high-end offensive line, and this all comes at the hands of Zac Robinson, whom I firmly believe is becoming a top NFL coordinator. Robinson comes from the McVay coaching tree and was a vital piece in their Super Bowl run. He was the quarterbacks coach and later elevated to the pass-game coordinator. After seeing what Stafford has accomplished in the early-2020's, it is not unlikely to see him do great work with Penix.

Predicting Drake London's 2025 Season

All of this will come to benefit Drake London. Though you should aim to draft players in value positions, that does not necessarily mean that you cannot draft them ahead of ADP. If I am extremely confident that London will become a Top-3 WR, I should consider drafting him higher than ADP to get my guy. The draft board says what it may say, but I am truly drafting based upon my value chart. If London is ahead of ADP, but at-or-below my point of value, or ranking, I very well should draft him.

Now that my case is written, I will follow up with my valuation of Drake London. He is my WR5, behind only Ja'Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, Justin Jefferson, and Amon-Ra St Brown. This allows for me to draft him within the first round of a 12-Team PPR league, and perhaps even a 10-Team PPR League. Expect big things out of Atlanta.