Drake London Deserves Heisman Trophy Hype Despite USC's Lost Season

Drake London is doing things no Power 5 receiver has done before. The USC wideout has managed to absolutely dominate his competition this season despite his team limping to a 3-4 record and mostly looking awful. I know the Trojans are terrible, but London can lay claim to being the best offensive player in college football this year, and deserves serious Heisman Trophy buzz.

Through seven games, the junior wideout has more catches than any Power 5 player in history. He has 79 receptions, for 1,003 yards and five touchdowns. And that's come with opposing defenses specifically scheming to stop him.

A fun fact about the above tweet: Michael Crabtree's quarterback at Texas Tech in 2007 was Graham Harrell, who happens to be USC's current offensive coordinator.

London has been consistently excellent all season. He's had more than 10 catches in five of USC's seven games, and had nine against Colorado. He's been over 100 yards in six of the team's seven games, and routinely does things like this:

And this:

In fact, just watch his entire midseason highlight tape:

London is going to be a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and is likely to be the first receiver off the board. He has elite size at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, and has the best hands in the country. But he's also a route-running technician, high-points the ball as well as anyone in the game, is nearly impossible to take down in the open field and has enough speed to create separation in the secondary.

He dominated both Utah and Notre Dame in losses in his last two games. Against the Utes he finished with 16 receptions for 162 yards and a touchdown. The Irish couldn't stop him either, as he racked up 15 catches for 171 yards. If USC could design an offense to actually succeed in the red zone, he might have more than five touchdown receptions on the season. As it stands, the Trojans seem incapable of finishing drives or finding their star wide receiver when inside the 20.

London arrived at USC planning to play both football and basketball, and his hardcourt skills show up every time he out-jumps a defender to secure a catch. He's basically Mike Evans, but somehow more athletic.

Right now, London is the most dangerous offensive player in college football, yet no one is listing him among top Heisman Trophy candidates. Bryce Young, Matt Corral, C.J. Stroud, Kenny Pickett and Bijan Robinson are dominating the conversation, while London languishes in near obscurity.

I don't care that USC is garbage this season, London deserves Heisman hype. He's essentially racking up ridiculous numbers on his own or with very little help. Start talking about him as a candidate, because he belongs in the discussion.