Expectations for Makai Lemon
Let me start off by saying I am incredibly excited about this season because of the potential changes we will see. And I am also incredibly bored in the lead up to Training Camp…so this is the result of those things.
With the departure of that other guy we are now in the Smith era, an era I feel he is more than ready for. That being said, the Dependable Two (more on that below) has now become the Dependable One.
Since AJ Brown came aboard (2022) Jalen Hurts has thrown a total of 9,361 yards to Smith/ Brown. His next two most active Wide Receivers for his starts… Watkins and Jahan Dotson who totaled 291 and 238 receiving yards from him in that same span (I went off their catches from games Hurts started so this is without McKee/ Mariota).
The dream is that Lemon will step in under this new offense and with his abilities unlock the middle of the field. But the numbers make me hesitant. Let’s say for argument’s sake you are looking for him to get 500 receiving yards. Out of the 31 WRs drafted in 2025 only 5 had 500+ receiving yards. And if he were to have a 500 yard season, that would make him the 3rd most productive Eagles receiver since 2022.
A major nuance of this discussion is how much Hurts has moved the ball to other positions (See TEs and RBs). And without AJ around those targets will have to move to someone. Bottom line, this is new territory and someone will have to step up to make up for those lost 1000 yards.
So what are your expectations for Lemon? Will he be a 750+ receiver or will he split targets with Wicks/ Hollywood/ Moore?
What do you think would be a statistically “successful” season for him?