USC WR Drake London declares for NFL Draft

USC wide receiver Drake London’s collegiate vocation came to an authoritative extremity connected Wednesday arsenic the inferior declared for the NFL Draft.

London, who was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year connected Tuesday, announced his determination connected Twitter with a missive addressed to the “Trojan Family”.

“It’s been a existent blessing to vie arsenic a Trojan implicit the past 3 seasons. You welcomed maine with unfastened arms and I volition everlastingly beryllium grateful for the emotion you’ve shown me,” his connection read. “I volition everlastingly beryllium a Trojan and cannot hold to correspond the champion brotherhood successful the NFL.”

To the champion University successful the world, Thank you for everything! Fight connected forever!

One-Five… ✌🏽 pic.twitter.com/UgxJO3xsUF

— Dråkë (@DrakeLondon_) December 9, 2021

Through the archetypal 8 games of the season, London established himself arsenic 1 of if not the apical receiver successful assemblage football. He caught 88 passes for 1,084 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 5 games of 10 oregon much catches and 4 games of astatine slightest 160 yards receiving.

His play ended prematurely, though, with a fractured ankle that kept him retired of the last 4 games. Still, London was voted the Pac-12’s apical violative player by the conference’s coaches and was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff, fixed annually to assemblage football’s apical walk catcher.

The ankle wounded is not expected to impact draught banal for London, who is projected by astir analysts to beryllium a first-round prime successful the spring.

London came to USC anterior to the 2019 play arsenic a two-sport jock retired of Moorpark High School, competing connected the men’s hoops squad arsenic a freshman astatine USC. His archetypal year, London worked his mode into the rotation contempt a receiver country that included Michael Pittman Jr., Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns.

He ended his freshman twelvemonth beardown with his archetypal 2 100-yard performances to extremity the regular play and touchdown catches successful each of the last 5 games of the season. As a sophomore, helium led USC with 502 receiving yards successful six games.

After his sophomore season, London opted to permission the hoops squad and focus solely connected football for the archetypal clip successful his career, a determination that paid disconnected with London proving astir unstoppable, forcing opposing defenses to trade their crippled plans astir stopping him.

London joins violative lineman Jalen McKenzie arsenic Trojans entering the NFL Draft this season.