0:00Drake London signs a big long-term deal,
0:024 years, $141
0:05million extension, $100 million
0:08guaranteed. He's going to average 35.25
0:11million dollars per year. That makes
0:14him the third highest in terms
0:16of AAV behind JSN and and Ja'Marr Chase,
0:20who are both north of 40 million per
0:22year.
0:23Um young guy, man. Drake London just
0:25turning 25 later this summer. I think he
0:27turns in about a month and a half or so.
0:29But
0:30where is Drake London?
0:33>> Look at the release.
0:34>> There's your separation.
0:35>> Great route.
0:36>> Stutter and go. Gets by clean.
0:37>> That is unbelievable.
0:39>> be the greatest catch I've ever seen.
0:45>> Now, again, financially, third highest
0:47AAV outside of JSN and Ja'Marr Chase,
0:50two guys that have really put it on the
0:52stat sheet. Drake London hasn't put it
0:54on the stat sheet. Where is he in the
0:56pantheon of receivers right now? Is he
0:58on that level? I'm not trying to put him
1:01on that level of Ja'Marr Chase and
1:02Justin Jefferson, but is he on that
1:05level right below that? Where where
1:07Where does Matt Harmon have Drake
1:09London?
1:10>> Oh, yeah. I think Drake London is a tier
1:12two wide receiver in the NFL.
1:14Um a guy who's competing to be a top
1:16There's like a It's probably about 15
1:18top 10 receivers in the NFL. Uh so, you
1:20want to put Drake London at 12 as
1:22opposed to eight,
1:23go for it. But like he's definitely of
1:26that quality and I would disagree with
1:27you that he has not put it on the stat
1:29sheet. I He was honestly on pace to have
1:32Yeah, I know it's on pace. He was on
1:33pace to have that year last year
1:36with, you know, Michael Penix playing up
1:38and down and then, you know, the whole
1:39deal. And he And he was still on pace to
1:41have that season. He just got hurt. He
1:43played in 12 games last year. He
1:44averaged 76.6 yards per game. Obviously,
1:48that's not Puka Nacua, JSN. Those guys
1:50are were over 100. Ja'Marr Chase, as we
1:52mentioned, was 88.3 yards per game. But
1:55that was still seventh at the wide
1:56receiver position. And he was a
1:59touchdown threat. He's always been a
2:00touchdown threat.
2:02You know, yards per route run last year
2:042.61.
2:06Like this guy was was really really good
2:08last year. And he was going to have that
2:11season had he stayed healthy. Like he
2:13had put
2:14If you just look at like individual
2:16production weeks too. Like he had some
2:18of the biggest wide receiver games, you
2:20know, in in the NFL last year. So I
2:23would kind of disagree that he hasn't
2:26put it together, I suppose. Like I
2:27actually think he he has put it together
2:30to the point that like I was saying
2:32again, I know this is um
2:34you know, we're not talking about like
2:35fantasy value and the whole deal there.
2:38We're talking about how good is he in
2:41the NFL like Pantheon of wide receivers.
2:43But my point in saying that is that like
2:45some of the biggest wide receiver games
2:47last year, like he's got several of them
2:50from like a fantasy standpoint. So yeah,
2:53I I would just say that I think Drake
2:55London like you remember he had 34
2:57points against the Patriots. That was
3:01fifth most among wide receiver
3:04production games last season. He had a
3:07monster game against the Bills. 24th
3:09most points that any receiver scored
3:11last year. Like so he had some of these
3:13monster games. He's capable of doing
3:14that, taking games over. And there have
3:17been times he's disappeared, but that's
3:18not Drake London's fault. Like that's
3:21that's the quarterback and and the whole
3:22offensive environment. So yeah, I don't
3:24think he's a tier one receiver. I don't
3:25think he's in the
3:26what JSN did last year or you know,
3:28Jamar Chase or Justin Jefferson or
3:30whatever. But I do think he is and
3:31probably not like top of tier two, but I
3:33think he is in tier two in my opinion.
3:36>> Okay. So
3:37and just [clears throat] to kind of like
3:39set the table here. Okay, like I I've
3:40got Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson as
3:43like your your top two wide receivers in
3:46the NFL. Does
3:48JAS did JSN make that leap to to join
3:51those two guys and what about Puka
3:53Nacua?
3:55>> Um yeah, I
3:57I just think we're like splitting hairs
3:58when we start to get into like are these
4:00guys
4:03Are they are Jamar Chase and Justin
4:05Jefferson like truly above JSN and Puka
4:07Nacua and like why would they be and and
4:09and stuff like that? I mean
4:10obviously Justin Jefferson can have a
4:12down year production wise cuz like
4:13there's no such thing as quarterback
4:15proof, right? Like it just it's not
4:17real.
4:18>> Correct.
4:19>> But I don't think he did anything wrong
4:20other than like a few random drops here
4:22and there which is going to happen to
4:23basically every wide receiver at any
4:25point. So I would say yeah, my first
4:27tier of wide receivers is probably Jamar
4:30Chase, Justin Jefferson, Puka Nacua,
4:33Jackson Smith-Njigba. I do I do think he
4:35joined, you know, that group last year.
4:38>> Okay.
4:38>> Honestly, I think like Nico Collins is
4:39in that group as well, but that's like
4:41my probably my hotter take.
4:43>> Yeah.
4:44>> Maybe I think CeeDee Lamb is still like
4:46in that conversation too. So maybe
4:48there's like a
4:50blue tier and then a green tier, you
4:52know, in tier one if we're like tearing
4:54the tiers and then maybe that is like a
4:56tier one and tier two. I don't know. I
4:57have to look at that more like
5:00individually, but
5:01>> listen, listen. This is the first of
5:02all, this is what Reception Perception
5:04does. It isolates the play, right? So
5:06like what I am saying when I am saying
5:07that Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase
5:10are in my opinion the two best receivers
5:12in the NFL, it is because
5:15um if you were to just let's say you had
5:17one standard quarterback, you gave them
5:19league [clears throat] average the this
5:21amorphous league average quarterback,
5:23right? Who is producing?
5:25Right? Of if you take all of these
5:27players and you just stick them with
5:29this same quarterback in the same
5:31offensive environment and with the same
5:32offensive like you just transplant them
5:35in, right? Like who's producing? Justin
5:37Jefferson and Jamar Chase are producing.
5:39It doesn't matter who's throwing I don't
5:41want to say it doesn't matter who's
5:41throwing them rock, but they're going to
5:43produce to the maximum capabilities
5:47in their situation.
5:49When I look at JSN, when I look at Puka,
5:52I think they have certainly earned that
5:55consideration to be in that
5:56conversation. But, you know, again, JSN
5:59did it statistically anyways for 1 year.
6:02Puka Nacua
6:04I think he's an incredibly impressive
6:07receiver.
6:08But, again, Matt Stafford, Sean McVay,
6:11do other coaches get the most out of
6:13Puka Nacua? I'm not 100% sure.
6:16And yeah, Amon-Ra St. Brown's in this
6:17conversation. CeeDee Lamb is in this
6:19conversation. Nico Collins is in this
6:20conversation. I just want to know like
6:22where does Drake London kind of sort of
6:24fit into that puzzle piece, you know
6:26what I mean?
6:26>> Yeah, yeah. Okay, so if we're just doing
6:28like forget the tiers for a second.
6:29We're just doing like the top the
6:31receiver rankings and this is in no
6:33particular order. Like Justin Jefferson,
6:35Ja'Marr Chase, Puka Nacua, Jackson
6:38Smith-Njigba,
6:40CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Nico
6:42Collins.
6:43That's So, after that, that's when I
6:46would start like thinking about
6:48a guy like Drake London. So, that's at
6:50receiver eight. That was kind of what I
6:51was saying there. And again, like if you
6:53want to say other like Malik Nabers when
6:56he's healthy, which I mean, god damn,
6:58when is that going to be? Sorry, I
7:00shouldn't have said that. But, like god,
7:01when is that when is that going to be?
7:03When is he going to be healthy? I don't
7:05know, you know, obviously that that
7:07stinks, but
7:08>> I love Garrett Wilson.
7:09>> Love Garrett Wilson. Is he in this
7:11conversation? I would say he he
7:13certainly could be.
7:15You know, shoot, a guy like George
7:16Pickens obviously what if he's going to
7:18be the player he was last year, like
7:19he's kind of barking on this door, you
7:22know, and so on and so forth.
7:23>> Oh, Chris Olave for sure. I mean, by the
7:25way, Chris Olave, hey, time to get your
7:28contract like you just saw Drake London.
7:30Like you I think Chris Olave has an easy
7:32argument to say like yeah, give me the
7:33Drake London deal, you know.
7:35>> Yeah.
7:35>> I if I was the Saints, I would give
7:38Chris Olave that with zero hesitation.
7:41Other than obviously the concussions, I
7:42guess you got to have some hesitation
7:44there. But yeah, I mean I think like
7:45these I think these are the guys. So
7:47>> Okay. Okay.
7:48>> I don't I mean who am I who am I taking
7:51Obviously
7:52prior to this season I would say that
7:53A.J. Brown is for sure in the top five
7:55or top three, right? But now I'm now I'm
7:57not
7:58100% sure Yeah, so
8:01But yeah, I mean these are the guys
8:03>> I just think it's important, Matt,
8:04because
8:06Look, I know that you are you you're
8:08entrenched. Obviously you you you you
8:10know everything about the wide
8:11receivers. There's nobody who knows more
8:13about wide receivers
8:15in the professional space than you.
8:17Maybe there's some coaches and stuff out
8:18there. But I'm just saying Okay, there's
8:20definitely
8:21>> [laughter]
8:21>> a lot of coaches that know more about
8:22wide receivers than me, but that's fine.
8:24No, no. Again, I'm just saying in the
8:26professional space
8:28you're you're top of the line. You're
8:29you're Justin Jefferson, okay, in the
8:30professional
8:31>> I appreciate that, but you know,
8:32whatever. There's at least nobody who
8:34thinks about it more than me. Like I was
8:36>> [laughter]
8:36>> I was literally thinking about like the
8:37I was literally thinking about like the
8:39I was literally thinking about like the
8:40I mean whatever. It's just like randomly
8:42the other day I was just like lost in a
8:44thought about some receiver thing for 20
8:46minutes and I was like I need to get a
8:48life.
8:49>> Incredible.
8:50But that being said
8:52and and you have internalized that Drake
8:55London is this great player. There's a
8:56lot of people listening to the show that
8:58don't know that Drake London is that
9:01level of player because again fantasy
9:04football or stats or whatever might be.
9:06Look, he cracked a thousand yards just
9:07one time in four seasons. Do you know
9:10what I'm saying? Like
9:11>> I hear you.
9:12>> When when that happens
9:14the general populace does not consider
9:16you to be a quote-unquote great player.
9:19You know what I mean? So again, that's
9:21why I'm I'm kind of sort of bringing
9:22this up because I think there's a lot of
9:23people who listen to this podcast. We
9:25got a lot of listeners, man. I mean
9:27there's a lot of listeners who who might
9:28not realize that Drake London is that
9:32level of dog that you're mentioning
9:34here.
9:34>> So I'm here to do. That's what I Look,
9:36whether I know more than people or
9:38whatever, this is why I dedicated so
9:39much time to doing this because I
9:40believe that receivers, like judging
9:42them just off production, uh is is
9:45you're missing the forest for the trees
9:47big big time. Big time. And a guy like
9:48Drake London's the proof proof of
9:49concept of that. Like, you're telling me
9:51you drop Drake London on the Los Angeles
9:53Rams offense or the or the Detroit Lions
9:56offense and that I'm that is I don't say
9:58that for one bit to disrespect the
10:00players that are on that roster. Like
10:01Puka Nacua, Amon-Ra St. Brown, that
10:03their production is you know, fake and
10:04no, like those guys earn what they get
10:06100%. Those guys are great players. But
10:08you're telling me like this is what's so
10:10like this is so it's it honestly like
10:12this could drive me crazy and I'm going
10:13to try not to. There's about There's
10:15about There's honestly, James, about
10:17like six or seven things going on right
10:19now receiver narrative-wise that like
10:20are driving me crazy.
10:22>> Yeah.
10:23>> And and I I
10:24I Okay,
10:25>> [laughter]
10:25>> I so what it it was
10:27it was the it was some of the like the
10:29role stuff that the Cardinals were
10:30talking about yesterday and the way
10:31people were reacting to it. I was
10:33getting so upset about it that I was
10:34like, "Oh my god, I really need to go on
10:35this vacation." Like I so badly
10:37need to.
10:38>> You need to get offline, baby. Let's go.
10:39>> I still I I got it Yeah, I just need to
10:42have better social media habits.
10:43Honestly, is actually what it is, but
10:44that's a whole separate conversation for
10:45another day. Anyway, so there's about
10:46six or seven things in the wide receiver
10:48world that are driving me crazy right
10:49now. But like this this whole thing like
10:51constantly drives me crazy. You Do you
10:53do the people out there like look at
10:55Drake London's stats? Do they honestly
10:57think that that has nothing like he just
10:58that has nothing to do with the
10:59surroundings? Do they honestly think
11:01that Drake London would produce the same
11:03exact like yardage and catches and
11:06touchdowns and all that if you
11:07dropped him on any of those two other
11:09offenses that I just said?
11:10I think if you do, you should be like
11:12committed to an
11:13like you
11:14should be committed [laughter] to re-
11:15redoing your brain, okay? Like that's
11:17That's nuts. That's nuts, all right? So,
11:20I'm just getting fired up about this,
11:22but my point even if you are judging off
11:24of production,
11:26Drake London last year just it depends
11:28on where you look, but was seventh in
11:29the NFL in yards per out run, which does
11:31control for like the offensive
11:33environment a little bit. He was
11:34targeted on 28.7% of his routes, which
11:37is incredibly high number. These are the
11:39receivers who averaged more than 70
11:40yards per game last season at the
11:42position. Puka Nacua, JSN, Ja'Marr
11:45Chase, George Pickens, Amon-Ra St.
11:47Brown, CeeDee Lamb, Drake London,
11:48seventh, Nico Collins, Chris Olave,
11:50Rashee Rice, Zay Flowers. I mean, there
11:53there's not a
11:54not a multiverse available in any Marvel
11:57world that I'm taking Rashee Rice over
11:59over Drake London.
12:00>> Drake London, thank you.
12:00>> Zay Flowers, you know, I very very
12:02different players. I would prefer Drake
12:04London. Chris Olave and Drake London
12:06pretty close. I like Nico Collins better
12:08than Drake London, but still like Yeah,
12:09that's in the even production-wise, like
12:11he is definitely a top
12:12>> There you go.
12:13>> 10 receiver. I've gotten way too fired
12:15up about this and we need
12:16Yeah, this is too much. Way too much.
