Very rarely does a draft prospect check every single box: tape, measurables, health, interviews, off-field history. Teams are often forced to gamble on some aspect of a prospect’s profile. Sometimes those flaws are overblown, and other times they are overlooked and come back to bite teams.
WR Makai Lemon, if he makes it to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21, would be at the top of most lists. I’ve even seen some call for a move up in the first round to get him. Like all other prospects, there are some flaws in his profile to examine closely.
“Scouts say Lemon’s tape is excellent, but his measurables and predraft process raise questions,” Jeremy Fowler wrote via ESPN.
There were rumbling of some bad Combine interviews for Makai Lemon, but most of those reports were unsubstantiated. It wasn’t fair to pile on the prospect at the time without the full story. But Fowler is as solid a source as any, and he confirmed some of those concerns.
“What are you getting?,” a personnel exec told Fowler. “I love that dude, him last year, but evaluating him through the spring, which version of this player will show up in my building? He didn’t test great, had a couple of rough interviews from what I’ve been told. Seems like something is missing, or maybe I’m missing something.”
What exactly constitutes a “rough” interview? Fowler shares that another NFL personnel source pointed to his recall and lack of detail when asked about USC’s offense. So he may not be a film junkie, or he simply may have trouble recalling finer details. People learn differently. That doesn’t disqualify all of Lemon’s excellent tape, but some teams will have concerns.
NFL players must constantly grow and evolve or they get left behind. Raw talent absent work ethic rarely wins in the long run at the professional level. Is that Lemon’s story, or could he just be a poor interviewer?
“To be sure, plenty of star NFL players did not conduct great predraft interviews,” Fowler noted.
The Wonderlic IQ test used to be an annual talking point for quarterbacks leading up to the draft. Lamar Jackson is a recent example of a very low score meaning nothing at the next level. Dan Marino and Terry Bradshaw also famously tested low, and both are in the Hall of Fame.
Tape is often king, and Lemon’s tape is really good. He catches everything, runs precise routes, and does well with the ball in his hands. On the flipside, the interview issues must be considered on the negative side of the equation along with underwhelming measurables.
If a player with Lemon’s tape makes it to the Steelers at No. 21, that probably means the concerns are legitimate in some buildings around the league. Could that be a gift to the Steelers, who could use a good slot player to complement DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. on the outside, or would it be a trap? I lean toward the former.
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