makai lemon
Getty
USC WR Makai Lemon.
The closer it gets to the 2026 NFL draft, the more it seems like the Washington Commanders are lining up to select an elite skill position player with the No. 7 overall pick in the 1st round.
That could mean Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love or it could mean a trio of wide receivers all battling for the top spot at their position with Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and USC’s Makai Lemon, who won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top collegiate receiver in 2025.
The Commanders got an up-close and personal look at Lemon this week.
USC WR Makai Lemon, one of the Draft’s top players at his position, is working out for theSaints (Pick No. 8) today and has already worked out for theCommanders (Pick No. 7),” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account on Tuesday. “Lemon visited theBrowns (6 and 24) last week and has theTitans (4) this week.”
While the Commanders need wide receivers, what they really need is an outside receiver — Lemon is very much a slot receiver.
“Confirming that the Commanders recently worked out USC WR/potential top 10 pick Makai Lemon,” Commanders reporter Ben Standig wrote on X. “Washington *needs* another outside receiver. That’s not Lemon, but he is electric with the ball. YAC machine.”
Bizarre Performance at NFL Scouting Combine
Lemon gets a few months to repair the damage he seemingly did during interviews at the NFL scouting combine in February, where he ended up as 1 of the biggest stories of the week for all the wrong reasons.
“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 their official X account. 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 — simply watch the video of this answer to a simple question to see what that means.
Makai Lemon Could Be Pro Bowler as Rookie
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 gets picked in the 1st round. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Los Alamitos native is really that good.
As a sophomore in 2024, he had 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 some thought Lemon could step in and be a Top 10 slot receiver in the NFL from Day 1 — even a Pro Bowl caliber player.