Makai Lemon
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USC wide receiver Makai Lemon.
There’s a good chance the Philadelphia Eagles are going to trade superstar wide receiver A.J. Brown soon, although due to salary cap implications, it’s a deal that won’t go down until after June 1.
If the Eagles draft a wide receiver in the 1st round of the 2026 NFL draft, that might be the most concrete evidence we will have to this point that the trade is actually going to happen — and it’s what NFL.com’s Chad Reuter predicts the Eagles will do in the 1st round.
Reuter has the Eagles tabbed to take USC All-American wide receiver and Biletnikoff Award winner Makai Lemon with the No. 23 overall pick in his latest mock draft.
“Lemon is pegged as a slot receiver, but he can play outside just fine when DeVonta Smith works inside,” Reuter wrote. “This pick becomes even more important if A.J. Brown is dealt.”
Lemon dropping to the 23rd pick might be considered a gift the Eagles — and a direct result of a pre-draft run-up that’s gone pretty sideways.
NFL Combine Proved Disastrous for Makai Lemon
It’s hard to explain away whatever Lemon decided to do at the NFL scouting combine, which amounted to alienating almost everyone who had an opportunity to be around him.
It started with bizarre interview sessions with the media and, reportedly, when he was able to speak with teams in private. It continued with viral video of Lemon seemingly not being able to concentrate on simple instructions when the wide receivers were running drills.
“USC WRMakai Lemon has gone viral for his NFL combine interview when asked who he models his game after and looks up to in the NFL,” NFL influencer Dov Kleiman wrote on X. Fans are extremely confused by his ‘demeanor.’ “
Lemon’s interviews with team personnel appear to have gone even worse.
“I talked to a scout just now who said he didn’t know whatMakai Lemon’s motive was behind his combine interviews but whoever advised the kid needs to be fired,” NFL insider Breiden Fehoko wrote on X. ” ‘Absolutely bombed it’ … word for word.”
“Seeing lots of talk today about Lemon bombing his interviews ….. it’s true,” Anthony Betts wrote on X. “I was told the other day he did. Even some people at the combine told me he was a turn off. I know a few teams took him off the board. Does he fall? If he does how far? One team told me ‘Great player, horrible attitude. What a disaster.’ ”
It wasn’t so much what Lemon said as how he said it. Think post-Oscar nomination Terrence Howard vibes.
The Dawgs - A Cleveland Browns Podcast
While we’ve been staunch believers in Carnell Tate as WR1 in this class, don’t hear what we’re not saying.
Makai Lemon is a friggin’ dawg.
Makai Lemon Could Be NFL Star From Day 1
If Lemon simply goes into a cave, turns off his cell phone, and doesn’t reappear until the NFL draft on April 23, there’s still a good chance he still gets picked in the 1st round.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Los Alamitos, California, native is really that good.
He had just 6 receptions for 88 yards and no touchdowns as a freshman in 2023, then started to flash in 2024 with 52 receptions for 764 yards and 3 touchdowns.
In 2025, Lemon finally took the roof off with 79 receptions for 1,156 and 13 total touchdowns — 11 receiving and 2 rushing — in 12 games. There’s a world in which Lemon steps in and is a Top 10 NFL slot wide receiver from Day 1.
“Lemon is a plug-and-play, quarterback-friendly talent with first-round value and Pro Bowl upside,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote.