Odds suggest stiff competition for USC's Drake London to be first WR taken in draft

USC Football Wide Receiver in the 2022 NFL Draft, Drake London, will easily be a first-round pick this year. There's no question there. Will he be the first wide receiver taken in the 2022 NFL Draft, though? Well, those prospects are a little less promising.

To me, London is the best Wide Receiver in the draft. To the WynnBET sportsbook betting odds for the honor, however, he will not be going first. Of course, that doesn't mean that he isn't the best, but it does mean that WynnBET does not have him as the favorite to actually be DRAFTED as the first wide receiver in the draft.

WynnBET has Garrett Wilson going before London. The odds for Wilson to be the first receiver taken are -105, and the odds for London to be the first wideout taken are +115. I'm a huge believer in Wilson's 4.38 40-yard dash speed. He has the potential to be a special deep threat in the NFL, and while he isn't menacing physically, he has good game strength.

The issue with taking him over London, however, is that London is quite the deep threat himself. He wouldn't run a 4.38 40, but everyone knows he has good game speed and combining that with an unreal 6'5", 210 lb frame is just unfair. London has the brute size and strength, but doesn't have the blazing speed.

It's the opposite case for Wilson. He doesn't have the brute size and strength, but does have the blazing speed. London at least has good game speed, however, just like how Wilson at least has good game strength. Their positive traits as prospects seemingly offset each other.

USC Football WR Drake London should still be taken over Wilson in the 2022 NFL Draft, however.

To settle this theoretical tie, however, it's important to first look at what Drake London did with USC football, and what Wilson did with Ohio State. Both were great college players, but London was better. London was Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year last season despite getting hurt for the season in the eighth game.

He had 88 catches last year (18 more than Wilson) and 1,084 receiving yards (26 more than Wilson) despite playing in three-plus less games than Wilson (11 games). This was also in an offense for London that had a coordinator who had no idea what he was doing and ran what is considered to be arguably the worst offensive system in USC history.

Wilson couldn't top Drake even with no questions as far as coaching and offensive scheme went--not to mention he had C.J. Stroud as his quarterback. Also, London had 19 contested catches in those eight games he played in. That was more than any college receiver in the entire country through week 12 (PFF)...Again, he accomplished that in just seven games and part of an eighth.

While Wilson will absolutely outrun London, London showcased consistently that he still has enough juice to get down the field in time for deep shots. The best part about London is that when he gets down the field and he's targeted, you know for a FACT that he's coming down with the ball. Again, nobody was better as far as contested catches go in college football.

He can also run perfect short to intermediate routes in the receiving game. A knock on Wilson is that he's not a proficient route runner as far as the first two levels of the passing game go. London does it incredibly well, as his reps as a tight end in his first year playing at SC clearly had a major impact on the diversity of his route tree.

Look, Wilson's got BURNERS. If he gets by his man, the defense is TOAST. He's not the better pro prospect than London, however, due to London being able to run a much wider route tree than him as well as his proven better performance at the college level and elite size/strength combo. Of course, however, the teams picking early in the draft and picking there for a reason. They may not be so great at drafting in the first place. It could be tough to bet on London being the first one taken due to that factor, even when it is clear that London is the better prospect than Wilson.