Drake London on his first career touchdown, playing in his hometown

The 6-foot-4 wideout was a much-needed spark for the Falcons on the offensive end after struggling through the first three quarters on Sunday. London is the first rookie receiver since Stefon Diggs in 2015 to have 5-plus receptions and 70- plus yards in each of his first two career games. When asked about London’s play through these first two games, Arthur Smith’s response was straightforward.

“That’s why took him,” Smith said. “We had a lot of conviction about the player. Again, it’s not perfect and there’s things we have to clean up with him. He’s a big physical player and he’ll continue to get better .”

London’s transition to the NFL looks seamless almost. As the youngest player in the receiver room, the immediate impact has shown he can emerge as WR1 for this core group. London has been competing at a high-level against Pro Bowl defensive backs in Jalen Ramsey and Marshon Lattimore through his first two games and he credits his teammates for having solid belief in his playmaking ability.

“A lot of work that goes into it, a lot of details, a lot of persistence at that,” London said. “This team makes me feel comfortable out there. They give me all the confidence in the world to go be myself out there and that’s why I appreciate this program and ball club.”

London and the Falcons will head Northwest to clash with the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3 looking to bounce back from two back-to-back losses. It certainly isn’t the way the Falcons wanted to start the season but there’s 15 more games left to turn things around and that’s the focus moving forward.

“It was fun getting my touchdown in front of my family and home crowd but at the end of the day, we lost,” London said. “We’re trying to win in this league and that’s all that matters. We got some stuff. to clean up and we’re going to get to it.”