Falcons' Drake London-Desmond Ridder Era Begins Sunday vs. Saints

Drake London and Desmond Ridder were drafted by the Atlanta Falcons early in this year's draft. Now, the friends get to play together for the first time.

Jeremy Brener | Dec 16, 2022

The Atlanta Falcons have a history of strong QB-WR duos.

Steve Bartkowski and Alfred Jenkins. Roddy White and Matt Ryan. Julio Jones and Matt Ryan.

Now, rookies Drake London and Desmond Ridder will get a chance to add themselves to that list.

Selected in the first and third round of this year's draft, London and Ridder have forged a strong friendship since joining the Falcons together. But the pair haven't seen the field yet together. That changes Sunday when Ridder makes his first NFL start.

London is particularly happy to see his draft classmate and friend get a chance to prove himself.

“Only time will tell,” London said. “Oh, yeah, that’s my boy. I came in here with him. Built a relationship with him. Just been grinding ever since. To see him finally get a shot, it’s just really, really cool to see. Just to see that smile again.”

While London has been decent in his rookie season, catching 47 passes for 533 yards and four touchdowns, critics believed that London's growth was stunted by Marcus Mariota's low ceiling. With Ridder supplanted under center, there's a chance that the chemistry between the two rookies could help London's numbers go up.

“Drake’s my guy,” Ridder said. “I mean, yeah, but I’m comfortable with the other 10 guys that are out there with me. Just because I’m closer with Drake because we came in together and we’re boys, that doesn’t mean that I’m not boys with each and every of the (offensive) linemen or OZ (Olamide Zaccheaus) or (KhaDarel Hodge) or any other guy that’s out there.”

The Ridder-London connection makes its debut Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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Published Dec 16, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.