FLOWERY BRANCH -- Falcons wide receiver Drake London, who sustained a fractured ankle, did not run the 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine or at his USC Pro Day.
“I felt like I proved what I needed to prove, but at the same time, I didn’t have six to eight weeks to train for that,” London said. “I was barely starting to run. I had four days of routes before I even went out there to go run, so I’m not going to go run a 40 without training like these other guys got to do.”
The Falcons selected London with the No. 8 overall pick in the NFL draft Thursday.
“At the end of the day, you could say I’m covered, (but) that’s really not the case,” London said Friday. “I’ll go over the top of somebody. At the same time, go watch tape. I’ve definitely have blown past a couple of people. That’s all that I have to say about that.”
London said his fastest 40-yard dash time was 4.5 seconds.
Former Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who helped train London, projected that he could run the 40-yard between 4.4 and 4.53 seconds. London’s dash times have also been listed at 4.58 and 4.6.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith was asked for the team’s 40-yard dash time on London because his available numbers are so varied.
“It’s great, we worked him out, and we felt pretty comfortable with his speed and everything, on tape,” Smith said. “We are not going to discuss internal measurements we had on guys. But you just watch the tape, he’s plenty fast enough.”
The injury complicated London’s 40-time, but it appears he is not a sub-4.4 in the 40-yard dash.
“It’s not top secret, but it’s our intellectual property,” Smith said. “Watch him in the slot? The guy is a dynamic player. Plays a lot of positions. He’s everything you want in the middle makeup. Like (general manager) Terry (Fontenot) said, he’s wired the right way. We’re excited that he’s a part of the Falcons.”
What London appears to lack in top-end speed, he makes up for with his ball skills, according to some talent evaluators.
“I think he is going to test better than people think but I doubt he runs,” an area scout for an AFC team told NFL.com during the pre-draft process. “I don’t care how fast he is, I wouldn’t be against him because his ball skills are really special.”
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