Falcons Rookie Drake London Played Key Role in Kyle Pitts' Breakout, Says QB

Marcus Mariota says that Kyle Pitts and Drake London need to complement each other in the Atlanta Falcons order to be successful.

Jeremy Brener | Sep 30, 2022

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Through three games, the Atlanta Falcons are a top-10 scoring offense in the NFL.

While running back Cordarrelle Patterson has led the way, tight end Kyle Pitts and wide receiver Drake London need to play key roles in order to sustain that success.

In the team's first two games, Pitts struggled mightily to get things going. But last week against the Seattle Seahawks, last year's 4th overall pick caught five passes for 87 yards. Quarterback Marcus Mariota believes that Pitts' success is directly related to London's

"I think it comes down to the success of Drake," Mariota said. "When you have a guy outside that's playing well, it kind of opens up things inside, and Kyle really took advantage of that and made some plays for us."

As someone who nearly broke the record for receiving yards by a rookie tight end, Pitts entered the season with a giant target on his back. Teams have been forced to game plan for him, but with London's back-to-back games with a touchdown, teams will also have to give him attention, which will take away double teams for Pitts.

Over the course of the season, if Pitts and London can continue to play their games off of one another, the Falcons will continue to be dynamic on offense and force teams to beat them in shootouts.

The Falcons play the Cleveland Browns Sunday at 1 p.m. in Atlanta.

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Published Sep 30, 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.