Drake London’s pre-draft injury scare shouldn’t dissuade Commanders

While free agency is definitely more bustling, the pre-draft process isn’t far behind. Between prospects you want your team to draft visiting with other teams who pick first (Chris Olave visiting with the Jets), unforeseen injuries, pre-draft trades, and endless rumors, there’s really no escaping the madness.

For the Washington Commanders, they’ve experienced a little bit of everything since free agency winded down.

As we already mentioned, Chris Olave, the prospect the team is showing the most interest in, is meeting with the Jets, who own the No. 10 pick. Elsewhere, the Eagles just stockpiled more picks in a trade with the Saints, and some recent mocks have Washington linked with Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton.

As far as injuries go, a potential Commanders target, USC wideout Drake London, gave teams a scare on Monday when it was reported he was moving his pro day from April 5 (Tuesday) to April 15 (next Friday). The reason?

London suffered a mild hamstring train while training over the weekend.

Potential Commanders target Drake London is battling a hamstring strain leading up to the NFL Draft.

While it’s never encouraging when a prospect suffers an injury after they had just recovered from a separate injury, London’s pre-draft scare shouldn’t dissuade the Commanders out of drafting him with the No. 11 overall pick.

After all, soft-tissue injuries are very commonplace for athletes after they undergo surgery to repair another injury. In many ways, it’s part of the healing process. For London, he fractured his ankle eight games into his junior year in 2021 and went under the knife to fix the damage.

The 6-foot-3, 219-pound receiver has been working on his recovery for the better part of five months. You can only imagine how hard he’s been grinding, so it really isn’t surprising the over-exertion has that hammy feeling tender.

We all know how tricky hamstrings can be. They’re nearly impossible to play through and require a full recovery to prevent a setback. The fact London only needs a week and a half’s worth of recovery suggests this is the mildest of strains.

If we were talking about a torn ACL, an Achilles injury or a more serious soft-tissue injury, we could be talked out of drafting London with the No. 11 pick. Already locked in as a top-five (at worst) receiver in this class and a potential top-10 pick, his individual pro day is only going to boost his stock.

A mild hamstring strain shouldn’t dissuade the Commanders, or any team for that matter, from drafting a player who had 88 catches for 1,084 yards and seven touchdowns in just eight games before his aforementioned ankle injury.

At the end of the day, London has a fantastic catch radius and the desired size and length of a prototypical “X” receiver. His body control is sublime for a WR of his build and he knows how to keep DBs off balance with his route running.

For a wideout who’s maintained his draft stock despite not being able to participate at the combine, a mild hamstring is just a blip on the radar. We just hope London doesn’t push himself too hard and risk a more serious setback. So long as he avoids that, he’ll be in play for the Commanders in the first round.