It seems like every week, someone else asks USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell to explain what makes junior wide receiver Drake London so special.

And every week Harrell tries to sum it up as best he can, though it invariably takes a lot of words to try to get to the heart of the question.

"I don't know if there's one thing," Harrell said, giving it another go this week. "Obviously, his size helps. He's a giant with incredible ball skills, and I think it's hard to find really, really big people with really good ball skills. There's not many of them out there and he's one of them, and then not only does he have good ball skills but he gets in and out of breaks kind of like a little guy. For big people, that's hard to do. It's been a while, I don't know if you all remember [Michael] Crabtree, but that's kind of what he reminds me of from that standpoint. ...

"Most people that size, it's kind of like God has to be fair -- he can't give them everything -- and Drake somehow got everything."

Crabtree, of course, was Harrell's go-to target at Texas Tech, racking up 231 catches for 3,127 yards and 41 touchdowns over two seasons in 2007-08.

"He kind of has the total package. He's obviously been blessed with a ton of ability," Harrell continued about London. "Like I said, Crabtree is the kind of guy he [reminds me of]. Crabtree wasn't as tall as him, but Crabtree was long and strong and big with great ball skills and great in and out of cuts. But the other thing about Drake that, and every time I talk about him I feel like you've got to mention it, is he's an incredible person. He works extremely hard. He does everything right on and off the field. He's the kind of guy, you trust him with your life.

"If I left my son with Drake, I'd have no worries and that's the kind of guy he is. Like I said, ability-wise he has it all, but the type of person he is really separates him as a player as well because that matters."

The stats tell a pretty compelling story as well, meanwhile.

Halfway through the season, London ranks first nationally with 64 receptions; second in overall receiving yards (832) behind Memphis' Calvin Austin III (857), who has played one more game; second in receptions per game (10.7) behind Western Kentucky's Jerreth Sterns (11.2); and second in receiving yards per game (138.7) behind Sterns (148.2).

Then there are stats like this that really underscore what sets London apart and also help to answer that question Harrell is asked every week.

London's 18 contested catches are 8 more than any other player in the country, meaning there is truly nobody doing what he's doing as often as he's doing it.

As a final measure of perspective and one that is worth tracking over the remainder of the season, London is chasing USC history as well.

Through six games, London is on pace for 128 receptions and 1,664 receiving yards over a 12-game season (not counting a potential bowl game). That puts him right in range of the Trojans' single-season records, both set by Marqise Lee in 2012 with 118 receptions and 1,721 receiving yards over 13 games. (His 5 touchdowns in six games don't have him on a record-breaking pace, but it's impressive all the same.)

Whether or not London gets that 13th game this year depends on if the 3-3 Trojans can win half of their remaining regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

Either way, it's been clear for weeks now the star receiver is delivering a historic season that will etch his name among the program's all-time greats.

Extrapolating his six-game production, London is also on pace for 200 career receptions for 2,733 yards, which would make him just the ninth Trojan to get to 200 catches and just outside the top 10 in receiving yards, which is all the more impressive when considering he only got half a season last year due to the pandemic.

There has not been an abundance of positives to discuss this USC football season, but London provides a reason each and every week and his chase of history and a potential Biletnikoff Award may soon move squarely into the spotlight as a top storyline the rest of the way.

All the while, he's opening more and more eyes nationally to his stature in the game like he had long since done internally and to those who have been watching closely the last two years.

"15's a dude," said tight end Malcolm Epps, who arrived this summer as a transfer from Texas. "I didn't hear about him and then when I was getting recruited to come here I heard about -- they say he's good, OK. And I got here and I was like, 'Oh, he's really good.' It's been fun. Every time they throw it to him -- catch, first down, OK, cool. You can go to sleep, wake up, oh, Drake's going to score, OK, cool."

That sums it up pretty well, too.