Philadelphia Eagles: Drake London should still be in play at 15

What are the most likely positions the Philadelphia Eagles could target atop the 2022 NFL Draft?

Cornerback, wide receiver, and the defensive line.

Now granted, some may argue differently. Some may assert that safety should very much be in the conversation, as the starting tandem of Marcus Epps and Anthony Harris is underwhelming, to say the least, while others could point to the long-term question marks at linebacker as a reason why the position grouping should be prioritized. Heck, some might even look to the depth – or lack thereof – Philly has at tight end heading into 2022 and suggest that finding a TE2 should be considered a priority.

But as long-time fans of the Eagles know all too well, it’s hard to imagine the current front office addressing these “undervalued” position areas in the first round, especially with three picks available on Day 2. No, as the Howie Roseman’s draft record clearly shows, unless the Birds are going all-in on a quarterback, the positions Philly likes to invest first-round capital on are in the trenches or on the perimeters. While rumor has it “all signs seem to be pointing to the Eagles zeroing in on Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt at 15,” don’t be too surprised if the team pivots to wide receiver if both collegiate Georgia Bulldozers Bulldogs are off the board.

If that happens, Drake London might just find himself a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, as he’s the exact type of player the team has been trying to land since 2019.

Drake London would give the Philadelphia Eagles inside-out size.

After a solid rookie season with the Philadelphia Eagles, Carson Wentz needed help.

While he was able to turn in a solid maiden voyage in his first season out of North Dakota, his production was somewhat limited by having to throw to Jordan Matthews, Dorial Green-Beckham, Paul Turner, Josh Huff, Bryce Treggs, and Nelson Agholor, who was still being used as an outside receiver at the time. With eight picks to play with in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Birds could have waited it out and hoped to land a high-upside rookie who would be under team control for a minimum of four years, a player like Curtis Samuel, JuJu Smith-Schuster, or Cooper Kupp – which the Eagles sort of did with the selections of Mack Hollins and Shelton Gibson on Day 3 – but instead, Howie Roseman went out and secured two proven pros with a wealth of experience to throw on the outside and produce at a high level: Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.

With Jeffery at the X, Smith as a flanker, and Agholor kicked inside to serve as a speedy option out of the slot, the Eagles were able to field one of the best offenses in the NFL and gave their quarterback a variety of different ways to attack the defensive backfield.

In 2022, the Eagles’ offense already looks better primed for success than its 2021 counterpart. Despite striking out on the “big name” targets on the open market, the addition of Zach Pascal should pay dividends as a rotational inside-out combo receiver, and the team’s wealth of draft picks should allow Roseman to pick the exact type of receiver he wants to fill out the depth chart with, be that a super-sized 50-50 guy on the outside or a nimble tactician deployed from the slot.

Will there be players all over the board who could theoretically fill those needs? You bet, Quez Watkins was a sixth-round pick after all, and Greg Ward entered his NFL Draft evaluation period as a collegiate quarterback, but if the Birds want to target a premier performer at the top of the draft, Drake London is one of the best options available in what looks like the best receiving class since 2014.

Measuring in at 6-foot-4, 219 pounds, London is one of the more unique receiving prospects in recent memory. The latest member of USC’s wide receiver factory, London began his collegiate career in University Park as a super-duper-sized slot receiver who played more like a move tight end than a traditional slot receiver. Because of his size, exceptional catch radius, and seeming inability to go down upon initial contact, London quickly became a favorite of quarterback Kedon Slovis and rapidly rose up the Trojan’s pecking order, especially in the red zone, despite playing alongside future NFL players like Michael Pittman Jr., and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

In 2021, London transitioned from a slot performer to a legit outside X and watched his production skyrocket as a result; catching a career-high 88 balls on 119 targets and leading his team in touchdown receptions at seven. Whether tasked with hauling in a quick out or a deep cross or using his massive frame to body would-be cornerbacks down the sideline, London exuded the sort of SEC prowess you seldom see in the more finesse-focused game of the PAC-12 – if you believe that sort of thing – and has rapidly become a fan-favorite among the online scouting community as a result.

And on the Eagles? Well, London could be the same sort of player Howie Roseman signed in 2017 and the player he tried to replace when he selected JJ Arcega-Whiteside in 2019.

Now, before you go on an online rant about how bad JJAW is, the idea of drafting him wasn’t objectively bad. The Eagles like that sort of receiver, and securing a replacement for Jeffrey with the same sort of game on a rookie-scale contract would have been good business. If JJAW would have hit, the Eagles’ receiving corps would have looked a whole lot better than it did in 2021 and would be in a better position heading into the 2022 NFL Draft.

Instead, the Eagles were reportedly players on X receiver types like Calvin Ridley in free agency and will have to again turn to the draft for a pass-catcher who can fight through contact at the line of scrimmage and get themselves open down the field.

London, to his credit, can fill that role, but that’s not all he can do. No, what makes London a really special player is his ability to pick up yards in the middle of the field, in the same sort of way Jordan Matthews did during his tenure in South Philly. If lined up against a smaller slot cornerback like, say, Avonte Maddox, London can feast on the advantageous matchups on a steady stream of short-to-intermediate routes thrown high. If, however, opposing defensive coordinators opt to cover London with a safety or even a coverage-specialist linebacker, then the California native can juke them out with his fantastic route running abilities.

Can you even imagine an interior attack featuring London on one side and Dallas Goedert on the other? How do you cover that, especially when London routinely makes catches like this?

Will some folks have pause about drafting a wide receiver who runs on the wrong side of a 4.5? Yes, while we won’t officially know how fast Drake London runs until his rescheduled Pro Day later this month, it’s pretty safe to say it won’t be a 4.39. If you fall into that camp, who am I or anyone to judge? But if you can look past his lack of speed and instead see a player who takes multiple defenders to bring down in space, the prospects of securing his services become very, very intriguing, to say the least. With the JJ Arcega-Whiteside experiment likely over, drafting the USC product could finally give the Philadelphia Eagles a big-bodied possession receiver the likes of which they’ve been looking for since 2019 with the added bonus of having positional versatility to boot… unless he runs like a 4.8, then he might be a better target in the second round as a joke tight end.