Is Drake London a First-Round Draft Pick in 2026 Fantasy Football?
Drake London enters year five with a new supporting staff in Atlanta. Kevin Stefanski joins to coach this team up. He will allow Tommy Rees to call plays. At quarterback, it is increasingly likely that Tua Tagovailoa will be throwing London the football.
As it stands, London is firmly valued as a WR1 in fantasy football. The question we ask is: Does Drake London deserve to go in the first round of a fantasy draft? His 2025 season points towards "yes" for an answer, but the situation is not so black and white.
What ADP Says
When playing in a PPR format (Wide Receiver-friendly), London is going at WR17 and 17th overall. He is a solid 2nd-round draft pick whether your league is 10 or 12 teams. The trend points neither up nor down for London, as he has remained the WR7 in ADP through the first half of August.
Why the Numbers Say
When we run the numbers, it finds London comes out overvalued on ADP. He projects as our WR12 on a points-per-game basis, assuming all players are equally healthy. Given that London has dealt with four injuries that caused missed time over his four-year NFL career, he is not considered an Mr. Olympia compared to other top wide receivers.
London falls victim to the Falcons' poor offensive projection. They are the 22nd-ranked offense according to the ESPN power index. Of course, the Falcons have a variable outlook with a new coaching staff and quarterback. Given recent track records of Stefanski (parted ways with Cleveland) and Tagoliavoa (signed to the veteran minimum), there is little reason for optimism.
The rating suggests a lower yards-per-game projection for the passing offense. They are expected to pass for 210-215 yards per game. Despite a massive yard share projected for London (>30%), he still falls to a yard share of 67 yards per game on 5.1 receptions, therefore equalling 9.3 total touchdowns.
While London's volume nears what Puka Nacua, Ja'Marr Chase, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba will find, a worse team equals worse output.
London's Best-Case Outcome
In a perfect world, the Falcons become an elite offense. It will be a big ask, givengiven that Stefanski's best offensive season in Cleveland had them ranked 14th in total offense (2022). Nonetheless, he does inherit who are probably two of his top-3 offensive skill players to date (Nick Chubb).
Back that same "perfect" world to also get TagovailoaTagovail to his 2022 form, in which he averaged 272.9 yards per game. In fact, he also passed for 272.0 yards per game in 2023. Given London's anticipated yardage share, a 250+ yard-per-game season out of the Falcons' passing game can put him on similar terms to Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb.
London's Flop Scenario
Is Tagoliavoa washed? In 2025, he passed for 190.0 yards per game. This happened with Mike McDaniel, the offensive wizard, calling plays. However, he also inherited a bad pass-catching group that lacked anything meaningful behind Jaylen Waddle. Tyreek Hill was injured in early 2025.
Even if Tagoliavoa struggled, the offense would turn to another left-handed quarterback, Michael Penix Jr. The third-year quarterback passed for 220.2 yards per game as a rookie, but then for an awful 155.0 yards per game in 2025. Despite that reality, London did finish the WR7 on a points-per-game basis. He missed 5 games due to injury.
A true flop scenario for London would combine injury with really bad quarterback play. While both are possible, neither is smart to expect.
Final Verdict
London should be a safe draft pick. His ceiling is hard to reason as reaching top-5 wide receiver level, or on par with Smith-Njigba, CeeDee Lamb, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. The offense lacks the ability to bring enough upside. While the Falcons have London and Bijan Robinson, they lack much. Beyond Kyle Pitts, the team runs out Olamide Zaccheaus and an unproven rookie in Zachariah Branch.
The second round is a safe, firm spot for Drake London to be drafted in 2026 fantasy football.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.