Drake London tallied 6 receptions for 54 yards and a TD in Monday night's win at Philadelphia. His 7 targets tied for the team lead and constituted 24% of QB Kirk Cousins' pass attempts for the game. London's fantasy line would have looked much worse, however, without a 7-yard TD catch near the end of regulation.
Falcons WR Drake London was only able to haul in two passes for 15 yards against the Steelers, drawing only three targets. QB Kirk Cousins only completed 16 passes in the game, and London drew four less targets than WR Ray Ray McCloud.
Falcons WR Rondale Moore will miss the 2024 season after suffering a knee injury in Wednesday's practice, NFL Network reports. We don't have any details yet on the injury.
Falcons QB Kirk Cousins (Achilles) has been medically cleared for training camp and will take all first-team reps while QBs Michael Penix Jr. and Taylor Heinicke split second-team reps.
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio writes that he has "very credible indications" that QB Kirk Cousins is "seriously considering" a move to Atlanta to sign with the Falcons. Cousins' wife grew up near Atlanta, and the Falcons "have always been the top alternative to the Vikings for Cousins," per Florio. Cousins would be a nice fit playing indoors in new OC Zac Robinson's offense with WR Drake London, TE Kyle Pitts, and RB Bijan Robinson. Likewise, a move for Cousins would be excellent news for the fantasy value of Atlanta's key weapons. We should know who Cousins will be playing for in 2024 within the next couple of weeks.
The Falcons are hiring Zac Robinson as their new OC under HC Raheem Morris, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The 37-year-old Robinson played QB at Oklahoma State from 2006 to 2009. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL draft by the Patriots but never attempted a regular-season pass across four seasons. Robinson then spent some time working as an analyst for Pro Football Focus before joining Sean McVay's Rams in 2019 as assistant QB coach. Robinson worked his way up to QB coach and passing-game coordinator over the last two seasons, but this will be his first time calling plays. Robinson's new offense has plenty of skill-position talent in RB Bijan Robinson, WR Drake London, and TE Kyle Pitts, but QB remains a major question mark. Atlanta currently holds the eighth overall pick in this spring's draft.
Falcons WR Drake London had a difficult go in Week 17, catching just 4 of 10 targets for 56 receiving yards vs. the Bears. The second-year wideout ends the fantasy season, having posted six top-30 weekly finishes in PPR scoring, two of which were top-5 performances. London didn’t have a terrible season by any means, but he only saw a bump in PPR points per game from 10.5 in 2022 to 11.1 this year. The bulk of his troubles come from inconsistent volume (6.7 targets per game) and the poor QB play from Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. Still, he’ll be entering his age-23 season in 2024 and did manage to put up consecutive seasons of 800+ receiving yards. London has a chance to see Atlanta make a QB upgrade in the offseason. Such a move would help his case of potentially elevating his value above being a low-end WR2 in dynasty formats, but we’ll have to remain in ‘wait-and-see’ mode on that front.
The Falcons will bench QB Desmond Ridder for the second time this season, The Athletic reports. Ridder mustered just 152 passing yards with one TD and one INT in the Week 15 loss to the Panthers. He's at 10 TDs vs. 10 INTs for the season and ranks 32nd among 33 qualifying QBs in Pro Football Focus' passing grades. This figures to be the end of Ridder's tenure in Atlanta. We'll see where he lands in 2024, but it's likely to be as a backup. QB Taylor Heinicke will take back over for the Falcons vs. the Colts this weekend. He's made three appearances this season, registering a 55.4% completion rate and 6.7 yards per attempt. Those marks are both worse than Ridder's this season.
Falcons WR Drake London mustered just two catches for 24 scoreless yards in the Week 15 loss to the Panthers. Weather was a factor throughout this one, with QB Desmond Ridder throwing for only 152 yards and one TD. But it continued the trend of Atlanta's passing game being much less productive on the road than at home throughout the season. For London, that's meant 6.0 and 89 yards per game at home vs. just 3.1 catches and 34 yards per game on the road. He hasn't reached 12 PPR points in any of his seven road games. The good news: London is back at home in Week 16 for the Colts' 11th-ranked WR defense. Then it's back on the road against the Bears in Week 17.
Falcons WR Drake London hauled in 10 of 12 targets for 172 receiving yards in Week 14 vs. the Buccaneers. Each of those statistical marks set new career highs for the second-year wideout. Fantasy managers have been on a roller coaster ride all season with London. Still, Sunday’s performance highlights the impact he’s capable of having when he’s prominently featured in the Falcons’ offense. There have been eight games in 2023 in which London has received 7 or more targets; he’s averaged 16.5 PPR points per game in those instances. In the four other games where he’s seen less involvement than that, London’s average dips to 3.4 points per game. It’ll be intriguing to see whether or not he’ll be able to capitalize on this success in Week 15, going up against a Panthers defense that ranks as the second-toughest WR matchup per our adjusted fantasy points allowed this season.
Falcons WR Drake London (groin) practiced all week and is not listed on the final injury report for Sunday's game vs. the Cardinals. He can get back into fantasy lineups in the plus matchup. WR Mack Hollins (ankle) is out for Week 10.
Falcons WR Drake London (groin) was upgraded to full participation in Thursday's practice. He'll be ready to go for this weekend's game vs. the Cardinals' 21st-ranked WR defense.
Falcons WR Drake London (groin) got in a limited practice on Wednesday. HC Arthur Smith said Monday that London is trending "in the right direction" for this weekend's game vs. the Cardinals. We'll keep an eye on his progress over the next few days.
Falcons HC Arthur Smith said Monday that WR Drake London (groin) is trending "in the right direction" for this weekend's game vs. the Cardinals. London didn't practice at all last week, but his injury never sounded like a long-term deal. We'll keep you updated on his progress throughout this week.
Falcons TE Jonnu Smith hauled 5 of 6 targets for a team-high 100 receiving yards in Week 9 vs. the Vikings. Most of that production game on a 60-yard TD on a screen pass in the third quarter. Sunday was the first time he out-targeted teammate Kyle Pitts over the past four games. Pitts was fine (4 catches, 56 yards), though it’s disappointing that he didn’t see a more significant role without WR Drake London (groin) in the lineup. The duo of Smith and Pitts rank as the TE14 and 17 in PPR points per game, respectively. Both are relatively decent lineup options, though the frustrating nature of HC Arthur Smith’s offense makes them hard to count on for consistency. Their prospects won’t be any easier for the rest of the season, either. The Falcons’ remaining schedule ranks as the ninth-toughest for TEs per our adjusted fantasy points allowed.
Falcons WR Drake London (groin) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Vikings. That leaves Atlanta with WRs Van Jefferson, KhaDarel Hodge, Mack Hollins, and Scotty Miller. Seriously. TEs Kyle Pitts and Jonnu Smith should draw more targets with London out. RBs Bijan Robinson and Cordarrelle Patterson could also play expanded roles in the passing game.
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