Why I think Drake London has the biggest bust potential of the top 5 receivers in the NFL Draft

[Augustiniak]

5 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

+1. He’s either really slow or he’s just the slowest healer in the world. Especially considering he’s a lanky guy whom you’re asking to catch passes in the middle of the field, it’s probably not worth the risk. You can get fast TEs all over the draft. 

There are safer wrs you can find later in the draft who can be bigger possession wrs.  I just wonder if the jets love wilson enough to reach at 4 b/c he won’t be there at 10.

[ryu79]

21 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

+1. He’s either really slow or he’s just the slowest healer in the world. Especially considering he’s a lanky guy whom you’re asking to catch passes in the middle of the field, it’s probably not worth the risk. You can get fast TEs all over the draft. 

This is the Jetsiest situation. London not running the 40 creates huge uncertainty around him. 

If you pass on him and he plays anything like his film then you passed on young Keyshawn Johnson/Brandon Marshall. (London is only 20). 

If you take him at 10 he may just be Plax Burris...

Will depend on our eval and his visit. He mentioned after the drills that he has three visits upcoming so you'd expect we will be one. 

[Matt39]

4.8

[T0mShane]

9 minutes ago, ryu79 said:

This is the Jetsiest situation. London not running the 40 creates huge uncertainty around him. 

If you pass on him and he plays anything like his film then you passed on young Keyshawn Johnson/Brandon Marshall. (London is only 20). 

If you take him at 10 he may just be Plax Burris...

Will depend on our eval and his visit. He mentioned after the drills that he has three visits upcoming so you'd expect we will be one. 

I’m a firm believer that 40 times for receivers are generally worthless, but for London not to run one at all makes me think he has to be a 4.7+ guy, otherwise he would have just run it to check a box. No one would have blinked if he put up a 4.65. 

[Augustiniak]

6 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

I’m a firm believer that 40 times for receivers are generally worthless, but for London not to run one at all makes me think he has to be a 4.7+ guy, otherwise he would have just run it to check a box. No one would have blinked if he put up a 4.65. 

Burks did it, he does not time fast but plays fast.  London’s size offers some forgiveness with 40 times but not running while still injured is a big minus.  

[nycdan]

17 minutes ago, ryu79 said:

This is the Jetsiest situation. London not running the 40 creates huge uncertainty around him. 

If you pass on him and he plays anything like his film then you passed on young Keyshawn Johnson/Brandon Marshall. (London is only 20). 

If you take him at 10 he may just be Plax Burris...

Will depend on our eval and his visit. He mentioned after the drills that he has three visits upcoming so you'd expect we will be one. 

So you're saying if we draft him, we might be shooting ourselves in the foot?

[#27TheDominator]

I can't believe I made it this far without reading about Boldin's 40 time, or Fitzgerald and Rice's mythical (as in false) ones. 

[varjet]

Didn’t London wear a mph harness all season?  The teams should know how fast he is.  

[ryu79]

3 minutes ago, nycdan said:

So you're saying if we draft him, we might be shooting ourselves in the foot?

Ha! I'll be here all week!

Thought this was an interesting segment - Miller framed today's workout as a big success for London and some fun banter with Ryan Clark talking about his son trying to cover London. 

Other interesting nugget Clark offered was that London played in the slot prior to this season and therefore has route running chops and versatility to play across the receiver roles ... which allegedly is important for getting playing time on this team...

 

[ryu79]

2 minutes ago, varjet said:

Didn’t London wear a mph harness all season?  The teams should know how fast he is.  

This is the point Matt Miller made in the video I just posted too. 

He was allegedly clocked at 21.4mph this season which would be 92nd percentile... 

[kdels62]

9 minutes ago, varjet said:

Didn’t London wear a mph harness all season?  The teams should know how fast he is.  

Hit 21 mph this season according to GPS tracking. That puts him in low 4.5/ high 4.4 speed with football gear on. But if we ignore that we can have more fun.

[kdels62]

25 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

I’m a firm believer that 40 times for receivers are generally worthless, but for London not to run one at all makes me think he has to be a 4.7+ guy, otherwise he would have just run it to check a box. No one would have blinked if he put up a 4.65. 

7 months to heal a broken joint, rehab, get in speed testing shape and then actually testing that speed is a lot and exposes him to soft tissue injury. If he tested today he should’ve fired his agent.

[Barton]

Only guy I would take at #4 over London, is Hutchinson.

 

[Beerfish]

If you can work out and do all the drills you can run the 40, if you can;t run the 40 due to injury or hamstring then you can't do the drills.

The guy ducked the 40 it's pretty simple in my mind.

[Asymmetrical]

I kinda like the Keenan Allen comp. Obviously different skillsets but Allen hasn't run past anyone ever either. 

[jetlaw]

I would consider a trade up if he slips to the end of the first round. I’m not taking him at 10. I’m thinking the best strategy is to draft edge/OT or vice versa then trade up to take wr at the end of round 1.


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[Beerfish]

2 hours ago, varjet said:

Didn’t London wear a mph harness all season?  The teams should know how fast he is.  

Yeah I am really going to use a mp harness.  That is as good as trust me i ran 4.40 at home while training.

The whole idea behind the combine is looking at every one under the same conditions.

[ryu79]

2 hours ago, Beerfish said:

Yeah I am really going to use a mp harness.  That is as good as trust me i ran 4.40 at home while training.

The whole idea behind the combine is looking at every one under the same conditions.

I think the point on the GPS recording (in theory) is that it would differentiate between track stars and those that can translate that onto the field. I don't know how common it is for them to wear the harnesses but Miller made it seem like such measurement was available for all these guys and is being considered as a relevant input by teams. 

If that were true, you'd have real game condition testing you could review across the field. 

Does anyone know if whatever service does those measurements has released the stats across the top wide outs?

[Stark]

1 hour ago, ryu79 said:

I think the point on the GPS recording (in theory) is that it would differentiate between track stars and those that can translate that onto the field. I don't know how common it is for them to wear the harnesses but Miller made it seem like such measurement was available for all these guys and is being considered as a relevant input by teams. 

If that were true, you'd have real game condition testing you could review across the field. 

Does anyone know if whatever service does those measurements has released the stats across the top wide outs?

need this back

 

 

[ryu79]

Found the link to the service that is doing the mph measurement and ranking. Apparently, this is the first year they've released so anyone's guess how much credence the NFL will give this as a source of info vs. the Combine.

This framework seems to really flatter London's profile and puts him just above Jameson Williams in overall athleticism (for reference, they rank London 91.9 percentile on speed based on max mph measured of 21.4 vs. Williams at 99.9 percentile based on >22 mph). London gets boosted by his on field production scores, which makes sense given the numbers he put together in 8 games. 

The gap in this ranking seems to be that not all the athletes appear to have been measured as Garret Wilson and Sauce Gardener are among notables missing entirely according to the comments on the post. From the companies tweet history appears that they just signed the Pac12 as their first conference and have other wise been reliant on team by team arrangements. 

 

[Dinamite]

51 minutes ago, ryu79 said:

Found the link to the service that is doing the mph measurement and ranking. Apparently, this is the first year they've released so anyone's guess how much credence the NFL will give this as a source of info vs. the Combine.

This framework seems to really flatter London's profile and puts him just above Jameson Williams in overall athleticism (for reference, they rank London 91.9 percentile on speed based on max mph measured of 21.4 vs. Williams at 99.9 percentile based on >22 mph). London gets boosted by his on field production scores, which makes sense given the numbers he put together in 8 games. 

The gap in this ranking seems to be that not all the athletes appear to have been measured as Garret Wilson and Sauce Gardener are among notables missing entirely according to the comments on the post. From the companies tweet history appears that they just signed the Pac12 as their first conference and have other wise been reliant on team by team arrangements. 

 

Interesting, no Garret Wilson!

[Scoop24]

1 hour ago, ryu79 said:

Found the link to the service that is doing the mph measurement and ranking. Apparently, this is the first year they've released so anyone's guess how much credence the NFL will give this as a source of info vs. the Combine.

This framework seems to really flatter London's profile and puts him just above Jameson Williams in overall athleticism (for reference, they rank London 91.9 percentile on speed based on max mph measured of 21.4 vs. Williams at 99.9 percentile based on >22 mph). London gets boosted by his on field production scores, which makes sense given the numbers he put together in 8 games. 

The gap in this ranking seems to be that not all the athletes appear to have been measured as Garret Wilson and Sauce Gardener are among notables missing entirely according to the comments on the post. From the companies tweet history appears that they just signed the Pac12 as their first conference and have other wise been reliant on team by team arrangements. 

 

Wait no travon walker?  Oh i see you need production to be on this list ?

[Scoop24]

Might as well spice this thread up

Damn imagine him in red zone tho

[Scoop24]

 

[Jdub03]

On 4/14/2022 at 10:25 AM, PepPep said:

I will be honest I have not looked at a ton of film on him. But I have read draft profiles and seen highlights and your statement just does not seem right. Out of the top 5 receivers in the class (Wilson, London, Burks, Williams, Olave)- my understanding is that Olave and Wilson are the best route runners. Am I wrong? lol When you say 'one of' are you saying he's better than these guys? Cuz, if the Jets are taking the top receiver in the class, they better be talking the guy who is the fastest, has the best hands, is the best route runner and can create separation with ease. To me, thats not London. I'd rather gamble on Wilson or Olave.  

I've watched more London than the others, mostly brought on because of the consistent criticism of his lack of separation and speed.  The more I watched the more I appreciated his play style.  

First, he's very good getting off the line against press and doesn't get rerouted very often. He does a good job attacking leverage and either crossing them up, or attacking there blind stops when applicable. He sets up defenders for future routes very well by showing similar looks early and when he gets them to commit he uses a different tool to win. This to me is very interesting because of his age 20 and being a two sport athlete.

His comeback/hook routes are crisp, as he can stop quickly with short steps and pivot well and stay balanced, as are his out breaking routes. He could be a monster in the slot because of his slant game, very quick in his breaks and strong with his hands and body to create a big target for his qb. Not a ton of vertical routes that I could see, but that doesn't mean he's not capable on winning. I've seen him vary his speed, and his quickness and route setup should give him opportunities. He's not gonna blow by guys on pure speed, he'll need to set them up. 

Overall, Iike the prospect quite a bit. Interms of comps, of the ones I've seen listed, I'd say he's a hybrid of Keelan Allen and Brandon Marshall. Neither fast, but one very nuanced in his routes, and the other very physical and really attacks the ball and defender when the ball is in there hands.

I haven't watched much Olave, only a few highlights. I have watched some Wilson, Burks, and Dotson. I'm a fan of both Wilson and Dotson. Those 2 along with London are my current favorites.  Wilson has the potential to be an exceptional route runner, and I think he will.  He has all the athletic traits you could want. I don't think he gets off press as clean, and he tends to take longer steps into his breaks than necessary, but is able to maintain his speed which is great.  It could be me, but seems to use head fakes excessively, or maybe that's just my memory playing tricks on me. Either way, I think he'll be a very good player.