Jeff,
If it's just a gable end, then it's un-needed ... no, it's more than that, it's creating a hazard with no benefit to offset the hazard.
I thought I saw daylight at the light area, but when I enlarged the photo, it was just (looks like to me) the edge of gypsum board being used for the soffit. Hopefully, the gypsum board is the proper board for that purpose, you don't want just regular old gypsum board there.
Regardless, though, as Scott said "They don't even need insulation along that wall.", not with it just being a gable end wall.
Tim,
"If that is facing a soffit/gable end rake/vent...why would you want to have a draft stop wall?"
If it was, and it is (a gable end wall), you would not need a draft stop wall there.
When you break the attic space up into 3,000 sf maximum areas and build a draftstop wall to serve as the wall which breaks those spaces up, then you build the wall where it best fits from ceiling to roof. If the attic, including the soffit overhang area, is just over 3,000 sf, you could (I've seen it done) have to install a draftstop wall which just separates off a small area, once that small area was only 1 foot wide by 50 feet long. It would have been more productive, and easier to build, if that draftstop wall had been located out toward the center of the house where the attic jumped up to go up and over a higher ceiling. One of those 'Duh.' moments the builder probably never even had (but should have had).
