Could This Player Help Unlock Struggling Falcons Receiver Room?

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons have been struggling with depth at wide receiver all season, but it was taken to another level after the loss of Drake London. London’s status for Sunday’s matchup with the Jets remains up in the air, and the Falcons made some moves to mitigate his absence. 

Earlier this week, they signed free agent wide receiver K.J. Osborn in an effort to bring some stability to that room. He is on the practice squad, but could be a potential option on Sunday should the Falcons want more depth. 

Osborn, a former teammate of reinstated starting quarterback Kirk Cousins, found a lot of success with the Falcons signal caller in their shared time in Minnesota. 

“We've had a lot of production together, and I just think he's a very capable player in a lot of different facets,” Cousins said. “Kind of a Swiss army knife where you can ask him to do a lot of things, and he'll be able to handle them. Then, you just have that comfort level from having played with him before, too.”

The former fifth-round pick had a strong set of seasons with Cousins and the Vikings. Osborn played four years in Minnesota, starting 30 games. He had a pair of 650-yard seasons and scored 15 touchdowns over three years.

Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson had been a fan of his from afar, and his connections with the Vikings have spoken highly of the wideout. 

“He's had some really productive seasons with Kirk,” Robinson said. “So, a great opportunity for him to get here. He's familiar with the system. There are some different tweaks and different things from Minnesota to here, but there's a lot of familiarity, a lot of carryover. So, looking forward to him hitting the grass, getting acclimated, and kind of seeing where it goes.”

Osborn could be called on to contribute sooner rather than later. With London remaining sidelined indefinitely, he could carve out a role for himself in the coming weeks. 

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London is, by a fairly significant margin, the team’s leading receiver this season. He leads the team in all receiving categories with 60 catches, 810 yards, and six touchdowns. Before last Sunday, his 31.8% target share was the third-highest mark in the NFL.

Without him in Week 12, the Falcons were able to find a bit of success against a struggling Saints team. Darnell Mooney was able to find his groove in the win and put together his best game of the year, reeling in three catches for 74 yards and his first touchdown of the season. David Sills V was also able to record his first career touchdown in that game.

Osborn could find a way to contribute over the final six games of the season and help the wide receiver room build on that unit’s success from Sunday.