Makai Lemon, USC Trojans
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(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The Miami Dolphins‘ wide receiver room is pretty thin after cutting ties with Tyreek Hill and trading away Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos. As a result, with 11 draft picks, the question is, when will the Dolphins decide to take a wideout to help Malik Willis?
After trading Waddle and a fourth-round pick (111th overall), the Dolphins received a first-round pick (30th) as well as third- and fourth-round picks (94th and 130th),per ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.
With two first-round picks, could Miami decide to take a wide receiver with the No. 11 pick to give Willis a target that could help him out this upcoming 2026 season? For ESPN’s Matt Miller, former USC Trojans star Makai Lemon makes sense.
“I’m a huge fan of Makai Lemon from USC,”Miller said during a March 17 appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show.” “I think he would be a fit at eleven if he’s still on the board. He is actually my number one receiver in this draft. Now, he’s a little bit smaller than Carnell Tate, but his middle-of-the-field toughness is exceptional. He’s a great route runner, a YAC player. He could play in the slot. He could play outside.”
Makai Lemon Would Fit in Miami
Moreover, Miller went into greater detail about why Lemon would fit the Dolphins’ philosophy. Miller notes that selecting the wideout would steer away from the old-school way of thinking that general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan might have brought over from the Green Bay Packers.
“He does give you a lot of juice after the catch. He created the most missed tackles of any receiver in this year’s draft with 21. So, he has that ability to make you miss, but then there’s that toughness in his game where he will try to run over you, try to run through you, and get to the end zone if he has that opportunity.
“If they go away from that old-school Ron Wolf strategy and want to draft a receiver at 11, I think he’s a tremendous fit with what they now have in Malik Willis and really an offense that’s going to be built around the run game. You’re going to be able to win with play action with a route runner like Makai Lemon.“
Could the Dolphins Consider Drafting a QB?
Meanwhile, there’s a chance that Miami doesn’t go with a wideout, but could they go QB with the 11th pick? ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky believes the Dolphins should do their homework on former Alabama Crimson Tide QB Ty Simpson.
“I think they can get a draft wide receiver that they can build around earlier in the draft,“Orlovsky said on the March 17 edition of “NFL Live. ““But it does make me think, because there are two teams that are great places for the Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. Arizona would be one, and Miami would be another.
“I know they just paid Malik Willis. I know that. But given the timeline, and given just the style of the quarterback with the style of offense that would be in Miami, at least under this regime, it makes me think, even though they signed Malik Willis, they should do their homework and entertain drafting Ty Simpson in Miami.”